


Face the Future

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [16]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Crack, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Leaving Home, Moving On, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: Steven's final day in Beach City before and Connie go on a road trip.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Daniel & Patricia (Steven Universe), Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran, Jasper & Freckles, Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Series: The end... [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Kudos: 3





	1. Only in my dreams

**Author's Note:**

> *huuuuuuuugs*
> 
> In case anyone still needed them. anyway, this should be one heck of a pallet cleanser, and then some.

Face the future.

Some time later.

The gentle waves lapping the shore of the beach, the sea foam fizzling lightly as the water retreated back into the ocean. The sun sat on the horizon, neither rising, or falling. There were no clouds to obstruct the view from Steven’s perspective. As he sat on the beach, he gently sunk his hands into the loose sand, and then pulled it up. The feeling of the sand flowing between his hands felt oddly satisfying, as well as comforting. His attention was in two places now, between gazing at the sun which had not caused his eyes to strain, and the sand flowing between his fingers almost endlessly. In fact, looking at the sand in his hand, it seemed to be endless. The small mound of sand in his hands did not shrink in the slightest. This was the tell-tale sign of where he was, especially since when he turned around, he saw the temple, but without the house. The town seemed to not exist at all either. Just a small cluster of trees and bushes. The final sign came with the gentle, yet heavy footsteps on the sand nearby. Foot steps belonging to those who never did like wearing shoes in the long run.

“Mind if I sit here?” A soft voice spoke to Steven. He first looked over to see the white hem of a large dress. He then looked up to see the soft, warm smile of his mother, Rose.

“Yeah. Of course.” Steven replied cheerfully, prompting Rose to sit down next to Steven, watching the sun either rise or fall on the ocean. A slowly creeping feeling began to build up in Steven, ultimately prompting him to ask an odd question. “I’m… glad you’re here. You… are here, right?”

“I always was. And I always am.” Rose replied. “You’re worried that this was just a dream version of myself?”

“Yeah… well, no… I-I mean… yeah.” Steven struggled to answer the question in a way that makes sense.

‘Being here a lot, I questioned that too.” Rose said, gazing at the sun, which didn’t seem to be moving at all. “It’s hard to think about what reality is. Thousands of years after the war, the Crystal Gems and I had set out to try to restart humanity. But the one thing that seemed to have always stumped us was the human ability to ask the questions that no one ever gave too much thought about. For all of their drawbacks, they do have the ability to make a positive mark. You being the very example of that statement.”

“Yeah… Still can’t believe that you and the Crystal Gems helped create… everything.” Steven spoke, sounding in awe of the daunting task of trying to rebuild an entire civilization. “I mean… Human cities and countries that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

“Eh, well, it was a few thousand years ago. But even then, the word ‘existed’ is a bit of a stretch.” Rose said, rubbing her upper arm, and trying not to make eye contact. “When we got to Earth, it was… bad.”

“Bad?” Steven asked.

“Yes… humans were intelligent, somewhat advanced, but also seemed to be failing.” Rose said, sounding ashamed. “Wars, pandemics, violence, chaos. If you were to see it Steven, you wouldn’t recognize it.”

“That bad, huh.” Steven spoke as he stared at the ocean.

“Yellow was the first to find it. Thought that between the abundant resources in the system, and a large planet with, as she called it, ‘sub-sentient life forms’, it would be a perfect starter colony.” Rose said in a flat yet woeful voice. “I… only got there after the worst of it. Humans were driven off into hiding to the northern reaches. The rest perished because of infighting and sickness. They even had weapons that harnessed the power of the sun. capable of vaporizing… you know, don’t worry about it. It’s in the past.”

“Well… you and the gems seemed to have done a good job getting things back on track.” Steven spoke, putting his hand on his mom’s. It was a dream, but her hand felt real. “Even after the war, you still kept fighting to bring things back to normal.”

“I didn’t, actually.” Rose disagreed. “If it was getting humanity back on track, things would be so much worse. This time though, I think… we might have made things better. You, on the other hand, were able to do more in nearly a couple of decades than it took me in nearly 10 millennia.”

“I’m… not so sure about that.” Steven replied, blushing. “I mean, you helped recreate human civilization.”

“And you helped give both it, AND the gem Homeworld a future. You were able to stop the Diamonds from colonizing any more worlds, as well as getting them to stop colonizing the ones they had started on.” Rose gushed, placing an arm around Steven. “You changed White Diamonds mind, saved who knows how many civilizations and cultures, and permanently protected humanity from the greatest threat that was lying in wait under everyone’s noses. You definitely deserve that roadtrip.”

“Well… I guess i- wait. How do you know about that?!” Seven asked, sounding somewhat paranoid. He got his answer by way of the sun, turning into a large screen. There were faint lines on the screen that matched the same pattern of his gem shape.

“This is a kind of a big leap, Steven.” Pearl said as she sat at the kitchen table., as though his gem was recording everything the entire time. “Albeit, you and Connie have been working really hard with your online college classes.”

“Both of them have a 3.97 GPA, Pearl.” Greg could be heard saying. His legs could be seen poking out from the bottom left, as though he and Steven were sitting on the couch. “He definitely earned it.”

“I agree. In fact, as his doctor, AND therapist, I strongly recommend that he takes a vacation. Or at the very least, a sabbatical.” Priyanka’s voice spoke off-screen.

“It’s actually going to be a road trip.” Steven’s voice said, slightly louder than the others.

“And… I was thinking about going… with?” Connie’s voice rang out, not as loud as Steven’s, but as though she was sitting right next to him. Steven remembered this conversation. It was from a month ago, only a week before finals for the summer semester cram courses for Charm City College online classes.

“Wait… W-what?” Greg stuttered. Steven remembered his fathers eyes growing wide. “You’re going… on your first road trip!”

“That’s the thing that you hooked onto, Greg?” Amethyst was heard nearby. She was sitting on the stair case. “Not going to pay attention to the person who might be riding shotgun?”

“Connie…” Priyanka’s voice froze for a moment. “… Are you-”

“Yep.” Connie said with slightly more confidence. “And before you say anything, I just want to add that I’ve been getting good grades too. I’m in college now… which I know doesn’t mean much. But Mom-“

“I'm okay with it.” Priyanka cut Connie off, causing any sound in the room to vanish. Steven remembered everyone being shocked. Even Garnet looked shocked, as though she didn’t even see that coming. “Honestly, Connie, you were on as much of an emotional roller-coaster ride as Steven was. You deserve a vacation too. Just… promise me you both will be safe…”

The image faded out, bringing back the sun.

“…Have you been watching me?” Steven asked, trying not to sound shocked.

“Not all the time.” Rose replied reassuringly. “Sometimes, I just like to know that you’re doing okay. And for the record, you HAVE been studying really hard this past year. And I agree with Priya.”

“Now when you mean ‘not all the time’, what do you-”

“I know a thing or two about personal boundaries, Steven.” Rose interrupted. “I can flip back to watching the sun, or maybe watch an old memory. My favorite was when you were learning how to play a guitar. You were so adorable!”

Rose surprised Steven with a very big hug while musing up his hair, causing Steven to laugh.

“OKAY! Okay! I get it.” Steven pleaded, causing rose to let go of her grip slightly, but still kept hugging Steven. “Um… mom?”

Steven looked up to see his mom crying slightly, and smiling at the same time.

“I-I’m sorry.” Rose said, as she began to let go, but then surprised when Steven returned the hug, nearly squeezing almost as hard.

“No. It’s okay.” Steven reassured his mom, shedding a tear as well.

“I… just wish I could have been there. You know?” Rose said in a bittersweet tone.

“Don’t… don’t you remember what you said on the tapes?” Steven asked. The sun turned into a screed again, this time, showing the scene from her video for Steven.

“-I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that's me, loving you and loving being you.” The video played briefly those few sentences before turning back.

“You were there, mom.” Steven said, still hugging Rose. “You were always there.”

Rose returned to hugging her son, enjoying the moment between mother and son. Alas, all moment’s end.

“Oh… um…” A voice spoke from behind them. Turning to look, Rose and Steven saw three familiar, but normal sized gems. Or in this case, 3 much smaller Diamonds, who looked somewhat embarrassed. Especially White Diamond, who looked guilty. “I- I didn’t mean to intrude. We can come back.”

“Nope.” Steven said flatly. “Get in here.”

Much like how Steven was able to contact other people in his dreams, he had also shown how the Diamonds could do the same. It comes in handy most of the time. But sometimes, it’s not always a good thing to do. This was one of those times. But the upside to it was that they were the same height as a normal human in his dream realm. Even Rose was somewhat smaller than how she was in real life. It made hugs easier to give.

Time worked a little differently in dream states, this was no exception. In fact, this was beyond exception. Every so often, he, his mom, and the Diamonds, would meet up within his own unconscious mind to talk, reconcile, catch up, and learn about things. This time, all the attention revolved around Steven and Connie’s road trip.

“Which planets were you thinking about going to first?” Blue asked excitedly. “I could send you a guide that could give you tours to a few of them. I know of one where there’s one long beach that circumnavigates the planet. Twice!”

“I’ll send mine as well! I know of a colony that orbits around the safe area of a neutron star.” Yellow said excitedly. “There are still inhabitants there who weren’t sent off to a zoo, an- Well… actually. Never mind that one. I just remembered why we didn’t send them. Rock eaters with translucent skin… maybe send a guide to show you places where NOT to go.”

“Dear Diamonds. Maybe we should pool together our resources, and get them a new ship, with all the navigational coordinates of places they should, and shouldn’t go!” White Diamond chimed in cheerfully, excited about their brainstorming session, much to the dismay of both Steven and Rose. “I mean, the old diamond ships are dated, and perhaps we can get you something more manageable. You don’t have your mother’s legs, dear. I do know of a few Cuttlian yacht’s that would be perfect for you and your friend.”

“Um…Connie. And also, thank you for the support, but… we might just stick with Earth.” Steven spoke cautiously, trying not to disappoint them. “We were thinking about just… exploring more of Earth. Kind of keep things simple. But, I mean, really, REALLY appreciate the feedback and input. It’s something I might actually want to get back with you on. I mean, my own ship. It sounds awesome, but for now… just taking it easy…”

Steven awaited for the Diamonds to either become insistent, or very depressed. But at that moment, he got to see first hand that even Diamonds can grow as well.

“That sounds reasonable, Steven.” Blue said calmly. She didn’t seem disappointed. “It might be best to keep it simple.”

“Yes. And… sorry about that.” Yellow apologized, now feeling embarrassed of her actions. “We just wanted to be a part of things.”

“You are! Really. I mean, going to space and visiting planets feels a little too sudden. But knowing that the offer is out there is actually kind of cool.” Steven spoke. “It’s not like we won’t be talking for a few millennia. We’ve always got this. The dream world. And I can show you cool pictures from on the road.”

Steven pointed towards the sun, which began to show images of Lion chasing butterflies, Connie and Steven eating ice cream and getting brain freezes, and images of Greg playing his guitar. The last image caused Rose to sigh.

“How is Greg, by the way?” Rose asked.

“He’s doing okay. He misses you. Going to therapy for grief counseling. But for the most part, he’s still my cool dad.” Steven replied, smiling fondly as to how he’s dealt with all of this.

The conversation was interrupted by a low sound. It was as though someone was saying something.

“Sssssttttteeeevvvveeeeennnnn…..” The sound echoed at a low tone. Steven knew what it was. Or in this case, who. He turned to look at the sun, which had gone from showing still images, to what one would consider to be live camera footage of Peridot tapping on the surface of his gem. “Steven…. Time to yet up. Kekekekekeke.”

“Oh stars.” Yellow spoke as she started to chuckle. “What is that little gremlin doing?”

“Isn’t that what some humans call a ‘sleep paralysis demon’?” Blue asked with a curious tone.

“Well, no. That's just Peridot. She just wants me to yeet her across the room. Sometimes, I wake up startled, and I just sit upright really fast.” Steven said, sounding and feeling awkward. “It’s my last day in Beach City, and… it might be the last time I do it to her for a while.”

“Ah. I see… that I don’t understand.” White Diamond spoke as she slowly nodded her head. “Peridot can be a little impish, but that one seems to be a close friend.”

“Yeah. I’m going to miss them.” Steven said, sighing. “I’ll see them again, but, it doesn’t mean I won’t miss them. She’s one of my best friends.”

“So you’re waking up now?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. It’s time.” Steve said as he stood up and looked at all of them.

“Be safe, Steven.” Rose said as she went in for a hug. “And if you want to know of any interesting gem places, I can point a few out.”

“Yes. Be safe, Steven.” White added as all the Diamonds went in for a group hug. “And give Connie and others our love, okay?”

“I will.” Steven said, returning the hugs, standing back, and producing his shield as he fell backwards. The image of the Diamonds and his mom, smiling at him, burned gently into the back of his mind. Another dream that wasn’t a nightmare. It had been over a year since he had one.


	2. Coffee Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven goes to work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summaries are going to be slightly vague, but i promise, no more sad stuff. Especially in this one.

Steven Sprung awake quickly, shield produced, and jolting upright as hard as he could. He felt something small on his chest the split second he woke up. That small object was launched across the room, and landed on a pile of pillows, giving off a high squeal.

“YEET!” cheered Peridot as she landed on the pile. “Again! Again!”

“Really?” Steven groaned. “I… guess it wouldn’t hurt. But then we get ready for work, deal?”

Peridot's usual routine of being thrown across the room seems odd to most, but since it’s a decent workout for Steven, and it somewhat keeps Peridot from going feral out of boredom, it was a sacrifice worth making.

It had been over a year since the incident at Roses fountain. For Steven, it was both the best, and worst, birthdays he’s ever had. Beating out his 14th birthday by a large margin. Even his most recent birthday he had over a month ago was mostly quiet. Contemplative. He had his family, but even on some days, they’re tougher than others. And his closest friends could only just be there for him.

His Gem hadn’t given him any problems since. His sole worry is just trying to pass the time. Without high school to keep him busy, Steven took on a list of random temp jobs around town; food delivery, beach comber, tutor, and ultimately working at the ‘Little Lappy Café’. The Big Donut wasn’t making as much money as they used to, ultimately leading Lapis to buy out the donut shop and replace it with a small quaint coffee place, as well as turning the large Donut that sat on the shop into a cartoon whale. Lars, for the most part, made the pastries, William managed the budget, which was an easy job, and Lapis worked the coffee bar. And to keep the theme of the restaurant, she was able to rope in a couple more Lapis’, who’s nicknames ended up being Freckles (on account of her having freckles) and Bob (because of her haircut). Since they had no understanding of names, and that they were nearly as apathetic as Lapis, they neither minded, nor cared.

They treated the patrons with some form of kindness, but to a point. There was an unspoken rule about keeping the drinks simple, and the conversations with the waitresses polite. And whenever someone walks in with an order that could fill a 2-foot-long receipt, or if some ‘Kevin’-type of person tries to flirt with the waitresses, it ultimately leads to someone getting a geyser full of water to the face, hard enough to knock them out the front door. It had only happened once, to which after pleading multiple times, Ronaldo was allowed back in, only on the account that Bob found it hilarious, and Freckles felt bad for him. Plus, the place was technically the only café to have incredible WIFI outside of Empire city.

Steven always had a great rapport with Freckles and Bob, mostly because he was just a friendly person. Lapis ended up hiring him full time to take inventory, move and grind bags of coffee beans, and be able to go back and forth to Roses garden to get the tea. It meant that Lapis didn’t have to deal with Jasper, and she kept the customers happy. But the main reason why she brought Steven on was because she was there that night. She felt as though it was the least she could do.

Steven did his usual routine to setting up tables, taking inventory, and situating cups. The frequent customers always left a mug or two with them, and Steven always made sure they were taken care of them. Going so far as to fixing chipped coffee mugs, as well as getting Vidalia to make custom mugs to be sold there. The tourism season was winding down, so the stream of customers was more manageable. On the worse days, at least 100. But on the lighter days, it’s a group of older gentlemen, which was just Yellowtail, Greg, Doug, Mr. Pizza, Mr. Fryman, and Mr. Smiley playing cards, as well as a few high schoolers coming in for a study session. Today, though, it was one of the lighter days, except that Yellowtail was out at sea, and Jasper decided to deliver the Tea and Coffee this time. A trial run since this was Steven’s last day working there.

After all of the tasks were done, and since it was a slow day, Steven sat at the bar and was listening to jazz playing on the speakers, since the live bands don’t come in until late afternoon. Sitting with him was Peridot toying around with a Rubix cube, and an awkward Jasper, who was silently sipping Tea. The tension between Jasper and Lapis wasn’t as bad as it used to be. They talk to each other professionally, but it never really went beyond that. Today was different.

“So… last day, huh?” Jasper said before taking a small sip of green tea.

“Yep. Last day.” Steven replied for what felt like the fifth time. “Again.”

“Yep. Good riddance, you lazy bum.” Lapis said jokingly. Jasper grunted momentarily, as though she was about to come to Steven’s defense before realizing she was just joking. That didn’t stop Lapis from looking startled. “Joking, joking. Just a joke.”

“Yeah… just a joke.” Jasper replied, feeling sheepish.

Steven still felt the tension between the two. His confidence in his road trip idea began to wane.

“You know, I can hold off on going on the trip. Stick around until you find another stockperson.” Steven said, trying to sound helpful. This caused both Lapis and Jasper to look at Steven with a sense of doubt. There was tension to be sure, and Peridot wasn’t going to stand for it as she fidgeted around with the puzzle cube furiously until it was finally solved.

“OKAY! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” Peridot declared as she slammed down the completed Rubik’s cube, startling the three of them.

“Hey, you finished I-” Steven began to speak before getting cut off by Peridots rant.

“No, Steven! I need to say this. I can’t believe we’re still all tensed up and feeling awkward. After everything we’ve been through, you two are still at each other’s throats. I can’t take it!” Peridot ranted. “Why can’t you two get along? Steven’s not going to be around for much longer and the two of you won’t survive without some form of buffer. You’re going to need to get along without him!”

Tears started to form in her eyes. Lapis and Jasper looked at each other and understood what Peridot was coming from. Steven, on the other hand, sensed it was something deeper than that.

“Peridot…” Steven sighed, looking deeply concerned about his friend.

“Peridot… listen. It’s going to be okay.” Lapis spoke, worried about her long-time friend. “Jasper and I…”

“It’s going to take some time, Peridot.” Jasper said as kindly as she could with her deep voice. “But we’ll get there. It’ll be alright.”

“Peridot… you don’t want me to go, do you?” Steven asked, looking worried.

“NOYOURECRYING!” Peridot said before hugging Steven and crying. Jasper and Lapis looked at each other with a smirk.

“Peridot… I can hold off on-”

“Don’t you dare say it, Steven.” Lapis said sternly. “You need this trip. You’ve been through a lot the past year.”

“Yeah, man.” Jasper agreed with Lapis. “Between studying and taking classes online, dealing with… issues. You’ve been keeping yourself busy, but you really need to go and find yourself… with Connie…”

Lapis couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer, causing Jasper to join as well, at the expense of Steven feeling highly embarrassed.

“See, Peridot, we’re getting along.” Lapis sighed after laughing for what felt like hours to Steven. “It’ll take time.”

“But we’ll get there.” Jasper said, finishing Lapis’ sentence.

“Plus, Steven, you’re fired.” Lapis said bluntly.

“ye- WHAT?!” Steven exclaimed, raising a few eyebrows from some of the customers close by. “You’re firing me?”

“Yep. You need this road trip. And if you’re thinking about sticking around, it’s definitely not working here.” Lapis said professionally. “Plus, I know you’ve been sneaking pasteries away from the case for you and Connie to share in the stockroom near closing time.”

“W-I payed for those!” Steven explained. “And they were going to be thrown out!”

“Giving leftovers to Amethyst isn’t ‘throwing them out’, Steven.” Jasper added.

“And that still doesn’t explain the whole stockroom incident with you two.” Lapis said, looking smug. “I’ve seen enough movies about what happens when a couple sneaks off into the stock room. the serial killer kills them and creeps back into the forest until next Halloween. You’re lucky I caught you two in time!”

“If by that, you mean that I needed Connie to help catch a rodent, then yeah, that’s exactly what happens!” Steven said, sounding attacked. “She was helping me find the rat! We were studying, and Freckles found a rat in the stockroom, and wanted us to catch it! Freckles, help a gem out!”

“Don’t remember.” Freckles replied before returning some cups to the sink. “Also, who are you?”

“You know who I am! We had books… laptops… studying… you wanted us to find the rat!” Steven pleaded. “Connie was just helping me find the rat!”

“Sure she was.” Jasper spoke, sounding unconvinced before sipping the remainder of her tea.

“We had books and laptops out!” Steven whined. “You even saw us capture it, Lapis!”

“Probably planted it there to cover for your dirty deeds.” Lapis replied, keeping up with the joke. “You’re fired, you dirty, dirty little gam.”

“B-but… Peridot? You believe me, right?” Steven asked as he looked down at his crying green friend.

“Oh jeez, Steven, don’t let your final day here be marred with lies!” Peridot wailed. “We all know that ‘finding the rat’ means.”

Steven had reached rock bottom when it comes to being embarrassed in public.

“If by ‘finding the rat’ means… oh forget it.” Steven groaned before turning to the bar counter and thumping his head against it. “Final day in beach city, and I get fired for a fabricated crime I’ve never committed… but at least you’re all getting along now… at my expense.”

At that moment, the three of them collectively hugged Steven tightly.

“It’s cool, Steven. We’re just messing with you.” Lapis said.

“We’re just going to miss you is all.” Jasper added.

“Even if we three were the only ones to have nearly killed to on more than one occasion.” Peridot said in a dead-pan tone. Steven could sense Jasper and Lapis give Peridot the death glair before Steven spoke.

“To be fair, I did kind of beat you. You guys are hugging me after all.” Steven pointed out causing everyone else to chuckle before Steven felt two more people hugging him; Freckles and Bob.

“Does this mean we can get raises?” Freckles asked sweetly.

“Well, since I’m not paying you, sure. You get a 200% raise.” Lapis said without skipping a beat. Seeing as though they were much smarter than they appear, they quickly let go, and walked off.

“Yeah, we’re taking our lunch now.” Bob yelled as she walked out the door.

‘Will you be joining us, Jasper?” Freckles asked, before being hushed by Bob.

“Freckles? Bob? JASPER?!” Lapis exclaimed furiously. “What are you doing hanging out with my Lapis’!?”

“I-it’s not like that, I swear!” Jasper pleaded. “S-Steven?!”

“Wait what time is it?” Steven asked, looking over at his dad, who was sitting with Doug, Mr. Fryman, and Mr. Pizza. He was trying to get Steven’s attention, and pointing at his watch. “Ooof. Forgot about my appointment with Dr. Maheswaran. See you guys at the going away dinner?”

“SOME OF US WILL!” Lapis growled.

“Great. See ya!” Steven said, knowing that Lapis won’t be too hard on Jasper.

“N-no! Steven! Wait! Take me with you!” Jasper cried out as Peridot cheered Lapis on, who was wrapping water tentacles around Jasper. “We still have to go over all the times we had those traumatizing fights! TAKE ME WITH YOU!”

“You’ll be fine! Bye!” Steven called out, with the last thing he heard were Jaspers muffled screams, followed by Doug yelling ‘Get the pastries and run, Greg!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Steven goes to his final therapy appointment.


	3. Wrapping It Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven goes to his final in-office therapy appointment with Garnet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steven... yeah, what it says up there.

The clock that ticked quietly inside the office on the wall had been replaced with a painting of a small oceanside cottage. Apart from the passive white noise of calming ocean waves being played at a near audible tone, it was quiet inside of Priyanka Maheswaran’s office. Steven lied down on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling in silence. As of the past 8 months, Garnet had been joining in on Steven’s sessions as well. It was a move forward for the two of them.

“So… Last day.” Priyanka spoke, ending the silence that had gone on for nearly 10 minutes.

“Yeah. Déjà vu as well.” Steven added. “Jasper said the same thing when I met up with her this morning.”

“Jasper was there as well, huh? How are things going between her, Lapis, and Peridot?” Priyanka asked, playing around with her pen.

“They’re… adjusting. They kind of understand that I had been acting like a buffer between Jasper and Lapis.” Steven sighed. “They also know they’re going to have to learn to get along. But I feel as though they actually do want to get along. Make amends. It’s… nice”

“Also last day working at the little lappy as well.” Garnet said, sitting in an armchair right next to the couch Steven was lying on. “And sorry about what happened.”

“What happened?” Priyanka asked, her interest being piqued. Garnet grimaced noticeably that she might have said something she wasn’t supposed to have said yet.

“Well… Lapis fired me.” Steven said, looking down at his hands. “Said just in case I had second thoughts about going on this road trip that I wouldn’t be working there.”

“Hmm… kind of sounds like she’s just giving you the push to go.” Priyanka said, tapping her chin with her pen.

“Or maybe she’s just trying to push me away.” Steven blurted out.

“She wouldn’t be the kind of person to do that though.” Garnet rebutted.

“The moon thing? Remember? She pushed people away back then.” Steven spoke.

“But what reason would she have to push you away though?” Garnet asked. Steven was stumped.

“She’s right. She’s not pushing you away from her, but pushing you towards something.” Priyanka added. “She may want you around as a friend, but she knows that you need this more. Plus, did she fired you like she hated you?”

Steven shook his head.

“There you go. She knows you need this. Jasper, Peridot, the gems, I know you need this.” Priyanka emphasized. “And in case you’re thinking about it, we’re not saying we don’t need you. We’re saying that we need you to take some time away. Do some soul searching. Backpack across the world if you want.”

“But… what about Connie?” Steven asked. “Would you be okay with that? Her leaving with me.”

Priyanka became silent.

“Steven… It’s not going to be a great feeling. But she’s grown up. I knew a day would come that she would… go.” Priyanka spoke softly. “Every parent's dream and worst nightmare is to see their kid go off and become themselves. It hurts that they’re leaving, but It can fill you with pride knowing that you did what you could.”

“It’s something you’ll understand someday Steven.” Garnet said, wiping a tear away. “I-I mean, in a general sense. Really.”

“You’re not wrong, Garnet. Also, how are things between the two of you?”

Steven had to properly think about the answer for a moment.

“They’re… they’re ok. Nothing bad.” Steven said, unsure what else to say.

“I’ve been giving him space.” Garnet spoke.

“And she’s been open, as have I.” Steven added.

“Pointed out a couple of places for Steven to check out.” Garnet said.

“And I’ve been more open about my feelings.” Steven finally added. “And she’s been really receptive.”

“I’ve been trying. Most of the time, trying to avoid looking into the future has been difficult sometimes.” Garnet said. “But I’m getting used to living in the moment. Opened my eyes more than they were before. You miss a lot when you’re trying to live in the future.”

“Ah… a year of progress.” Priyanka said, her eyes widened and slowly nodding. “Most people need years to understand that. You have a long way to go, but you both have come along way. THAT’S not to say that I don’t agree with you… and Connie going on this trip. I think it’s very healthy that you do this.”

“But… what do you really think though?” Steven asked. “I’m not meaning to turn the tables, or trying to play therapist. I’m not asking Dr. Maheswaran. I’m asking Connie’s mom. Are… you okay? With her going with me?”

Priyanka gently massaged the bridge of her nose and sighed.

“It’s… already here.” Priyanka sighed. “Steven, to be honest, if she was going by herself, I would be worried, and rattling around like Onion’s jar of owl pellets. And you didn’t hear me make that reference.”

“What reference?” Steven asked, knowing full well that she had let that slip, but at the same time, Steven knew that Onion would have something like that lying around somewhere.

“But what I’m trying to say is that if she’s with you… I know she’ll be safe. And okay.” Priyanka smiled slightly. “You two have been best friends ever since I’ve met you… and the whole dinner fiasco.”

“To be fair, and no one would need a crystal ball to know this, but it could have been a lot worse.” Garnet said.

“Well of course it could have been worse. And it could have been better.” Priyanka stated. “But normal friends don’t run off on the first bus that drives by… that just picks up kids in the middle of the night without money…”

“Beach City is kind of weird.” Steven said.

“So I’ve noticed. But I trust Connie will be safe as long as you’re around.” Priyanka sighed. “I just hope you have some form of money saved up for any emergencies out there.

“Dad got me a card. Opened up a bank account in my name a while back in case I need money for something like this.” Steven replied back.

“How much?” Priyanka inquired.

“According to my dad, ‘more than I would think I need’. And since that heavy class action intellectual property lawsuit against his former manager, and the fact that he doesn’t really need much, I’m guessing… more than I need.”

“You would be surprised. Anything could happen out there. Car could break down. Might need a flight home… might have to go into the emergency room… far from here…” Priyanka trailed off, with insecurities of all the things that could happen whirling around her head.

“Bubble.” Steven said clearly. “Healing spit, Bismuth apparently had done some modifications to the car, so it would be less likely to break down. I have a digital credit card on my phone, which I’ll have on me at all times and won’t be stolen. Connie, Garnet, Pearl, and I have planned for anything that were to happen.”

“…Anything?” Priyanka asked, snapping out of it.

“Yep.” Steven replied.

“Well… can you do me one favor?” Priyanka asked, in which Steven nodded. “I’m… not sure where you are in your relationship. Just promise me you’re not going… to be coming back… with a plus one.”

“A plu- whoah! Okay. Yeah. That won’t happen.” Steven said, his insides cringing, and having a feeling that his mom would be laughing hard. “I promise that much at least. I can’t believe that came out of nowhere. It was bad enough that Lapis brought but the rat incident today…”

“She still didn’t believe you?” Priyanka asked.

“She probably does, but likes to pick on me about it.” Steven groaned. “She sounds like an older sister sometimes.”

“Speaking of, how’s Amethyst taking all of this?” Priyanka asked another question.

“Well…I think she’s okay.” Steven replied. “I think she’s okay with it. I…haven’t asked. I might do that when I meet up with her at lunch.”

“You might need to ask her how she feels, Steven.” Garnet said. “She’s kind of taken the job of being an older sister seriously.”

“She has.” Steven thought about his and Amethysts time together. “Even after what happened at the fountain, she checked up on me a lot. Spent every day with me, either talking about it, or about other things. Both her and Connie stuck to me like glue for a while… or at least until I brought up the road trip thing.”

“What happened then?” Priyanka asked.

“She… kind of started becoming distant… What if… she doesn’t want me to go?” Steven asked, sounding worried. “What if she needed me to stay?”

“She would have something about it by now, right?” Priyanka pointed out.

“She’s not one to be too open. Sometimes, she’s like a clam. And not like an actual clam, which is only once a month, but-” Steven started to answer when everyone chuckled slightly. “But she was never one to open up so easily. You almost have to really force her to talk.”

“Might be because she would feel abandoned.” Garnet spoke, with concern in her voice. “Every so often, back when Rose was around a long time ago, we would sometimes go our separate ways. We would try to make sure Humanity didn’t try to find some way to use gem tech, or try to help them out in other ways to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves. But it always seems like Amethyst… went her own way.”

“Did she ever talk about it back then? About how she feels when everyone went their separate ways for a while?” Priyanka prodded. “Did she ever join any of you?”

“She… We kind of had the habit of thinking she could take care of herself.” Garnet replied as she started to feel guilty. “She… probably wanted to come along with one of us…”

“Just like how I wanted to go along with you on your adventures…” Steven spoke. He saw Garner shed a few tears and held her hand. “You know… I have had a thought about something. I haven’t said anything to anyone, but… maybe it might be boring with it being just Connie and I. And… I was wondering… would it be okay if she went with us?”

The room went quiet for a few moments. Steven wanting to do a solo road trip came to a surprise to them a few months ago. The thought of Steven and Connie going by themselves left a few people feeling uneasy, but over time, they acclimated to that idea as well. But this brought about a strange sense. It was a while before Priyanka spoke.

“Well… I know it’s not my place to say this, but… on one hand, I’m not sure who would be more likely to commit felonious crimes; her, Onion, or Jasper.” Priyanka stated carefully. “But… on the other hand… and this is just me talking, but, having a third party would probably be best.”

“Because it would mean that she would be chaperoning us?” Steven asked flatly. “Like a parent chaperoning a couple of kids to a dance?”

“No. Not like that.” Priyanka said slightly defensively. “I mean as in if something bad were to happen, maybe 2 gems and a sword person would be better than one gem and a defenseless girl…”

“Ah… right.” Steven replied. “Well, as I said, it’s not something I’ve brought up to anyone until now. Garnet? Thoughts?”

“Steven, I don’t think it’s up to me.” Garnet said. “Amethyst Is a lot more mature than most people realize.”

“But how would you and Pearl feel?” Steven asked again.

“Well… It’s difficult to say. I want to look into the future just so I can give a correct answer. But that might not do any good… All I can say is that I would miss her. But she might miss you even more. We all would. But she probably wouldn’t want to feel as though she was being left behind. But that’s just off the top of my head. It’s best if you ask her at lunch with Connie.”

“Okay. I’ll ask her. I just didn’t want to drag her away from you and Pearl.” Steven said, squeezing Garnet’s hand.

“You wouldn’t be. In fact, you would just be offering her a chance to go with instead of dragging anyone anywhere.” Garnet said. “If she left with you, we know it would be for the best. And it’s not like you’ll all be gone forever. You’ll come back. And with Amethyst, we’ll know you’ll come back safe, and maybe feeling better than you would if it was just you And Connie.”

“She does have a point, Steven.” Priyanka said, smiling softly. “Now I do need to ask you something while you are here. And we still have time. It’s something I should have asked sooner, but we’ve been kind of wrapped up in all of this talk about the road trip. How are you feeling? About… your mom? Are you doing okay?”

“Oh. Well… surprisingly, I’m doing pretty well.” Steven said, thinking about his dream. “In fact… I kind of know how to talk to her. It sounds weird, but… I can talk to her in my dreams. Been doing that for a couple of months.”

“You mean… you dream about talking to her?” Priyanka asked, looking both confused and concerned.

“No. At least I don’t think so.” Steven said, starting to feel slightly unsure before he felt a slight, comforting warmth from his gem. It didn’t feel painful. It was the opposite. As though his gem was trying to tell him something. “She said that she was going to become half of me. I’m still myself. I’ve always been. But I also know that my mom is kind of with me… It sounds weird. Nevermind.”

“No, no. Steven, I remember being in that dream realm. Strange is the norm there.” Priyanka said. “And if you say that you’re capable of finding a way to talk to her, then I believe you. Are things going okay though?”

“Honestly… yeah.” Steven said, feeling slightly more comfortable talking about it. “She’s kind of watching things. Not all the time, but… she’s around. In me. And… I can also kind of talk to the Diamonds as well.”

Garnet gave a slight groan before stopping herself. Steven still noticed.

“How… are they?” Garnet asked sincerely.

“Well… in my dream realm, they’re normal sized. Kind of. White Diamond is maybe a little taller than you, but she’s a lot less intimidating. It’s… really nice.” Steven spoke, trying to reassure Garnet it’s okay. “I know there’s still history, but maybe, one day, I’ll try to find a way to bring you in. I know you don’t sleep, but maybe one day I can bring you in, and maybe you can talk at eye level with them. I think they’re a lot nicer when they’re smaller. I know mom get’s along with them.”

“She… does?” Garnet asked, sounding slightly surprised.

“Yeah. And… maybe if there was a way to get the gems in there as well… maybe we can have a little family reunion?” Steven asked, feeling slightly awkward. But the awkward feeling melted away when he saw Garnet smile slightly.

“I would like that. A family reunion. On equal footing.” Garnet said with a soft smile and a voice to match. “And I promise I won’t punch Blue in the face.”

“Please don’t.” Steven asked, almost slightly pleading. “To be fair, you might end up hugging her more than you would want to fight her. She… kind of has that sense about her.”

Priyanka sniffled, startling the two of them.

“Sorry… allergies.” Priyanka said, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. “But… sadly… we’re out of time.”

Steven looked at his phone. A quarter past noon. It was, indeed, time to leave.

“Is it weird to say that I’m going to miss this office?” Steven asked Priyanka, who held her composure as well as she could.

“Not at all Steven.” Priyanka replied in a motherly tone. “Not at all.”

Steven could sense sadness in her voice, and instincts kicked in.

“Do… do you need a hug?” Steven asked.

“Hold on to those hugs for the going away… dinner.” Priyanka replied. “I’ll probably need them then. But before going, are you okay with video meetings? In case you need to speak to me as a patient?”

“Yeah. Not sure how we’ll do appointments though.” Steven replied as he and Garnet stood up.

“Just call me on my work phone whenever you need me, and we can have a video conference as fast as I can get a laptop ready. Just like how we did it when I was sick a few months ago.” Priyanka said as she, too, stood up with them.

“You really should have just taken it easy that day. You weren’t doing so good.” Steven replied, remembering how miserable she looked.

“Nonsense. It was a good practice run. Plus, it also gave me a new way to see patients who weren’t able to see me in the office.” Priyanka said, waving away any concern Steven had. “But have a good lunch, Steven. Be safe you two.”

“Okay. See you tonight at the dinner.” Steven bode farewell as he and Garnet walked out. “Bye!”

“Goodbye, Steven.” Priyanka replied. “And Garnet, 2 weeks?”

Garnet froze for a moment as Steven stopped and looked back at a nervous Garnet.

“Y-yes. 2 weeks.” Garnet replied, slightly cringing. “Maybe slightly sooner. I’ll let you know. Bye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Steven meets up with Connie on a double date with Patricia and Danny, who has news for Steven and Connie about the future. all while Amethyst mops up the competition in an eating contest.
> 
> Steven won't stop going to therapy. he still has a bit of a ways to go, but he's in a better place now. Also, Priyanka will keep tabs on Steven.


	4. Double Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven meets up with Connie on a double date with Patricia and Danny while Amethyst competes in an eating competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still keeping up the flow of fluff and slice of life stuff, but this time, there might be a problem with Amethyst...

The late summer air hung above Beach City. It was slightly cooler. Not at all blisteringly hot. Everything just felt more comfortable. As they walked out of the office, Steven and Garnet started to walk up the street. Garnet didn’t want to say much, but Steven needed to tell her something.

“Garnet?” Steven spoke, catching her off guard.

“Yes, Steven?” Garnet replied.

“Are you doing okay?” Steven asked cautiously.

“Yes, Steven.” Garnet replied softly and assuredly. “It’s just… I kind of understand some things. I sometimes can’t solve everything myself. No longer looking to the future means that I feel a little lost sometimes. I’m learning to live in the here and now… but I need help adjusting from time to time. Priyanka is a good person to talk to. She’s a much different person than she was when we met her at the seafood restaurant.”

“Yeah… but… I mean, are you okay?” Steven asked again, but being more direct. “With me leaving.”

Garnet sighed, turned towards him, and knelt down to see him at eye level.

“Steven… I’m going to miss you alot. But I also understand that this is something you need to do.” Garnet said calmly. “And for that, I’m proud of you.”

Garnet kissed Steven’s forehead, leaving Steven feeling startled.

“Um… wait… was that just a normal kiss, or a future vision kiss?” Steven asked, looking around.

“It was a I’ll-see-you-at-dinner kiss. No more living in the future.” Garnet said, standing up and walking down another street, going towards Vidalia’s house. “And also, avoid the ravioli!”

“Wait! I thought you said no mo-” Steven was stopped when Garnet turned back and pointed at a street lamp that had the flyer, which had read:

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
‘Ravioli Rumble, fried ravioli eating competition @ the Bouillabaisse Bistro on the beach.  
1st prize: Free Bouillabaisse Bistro shirt and a plush ravioli.  
2nd prize: Free T-shirt and a coupon for a free medium pizza.  
3rd prize: a stomach ache, regret, and an hour laying on the beach questioning your life’s choices.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Garnet waved and continued walking down the street. It started to make sense to Steven why Amethyst wanted to join him, Connie, Patricia, and her partner Daniel for lunch. Amethyst could never pass on free stuff for effortless work. As he started walking towards the restaurant area, he thought about the poor competitors she’ll end up annihilating, much like the tray of fried ravioli that will be presented to her.

His question was immediately answered as he walked in to the nearly packed restaurant, where humans and gems came to watch as Amethyst, Ronaldo, Onion, and unfortunately Daniel, sat at a long table in the middle of the restaurant, waiting for the fried ravioli to be brought out. Steven spotted Connie in a horseshoe shaped booth nearby, wearing a purple shirt, with Amethyst face on it, waving a small purple flag, with a deeper purple colored ‘A’ on it. Patricia, on the other hand, who was sitting right next to her, had her head slightly hitting the table. He wasn’t quite sure how to ask what’s wrong as he sat down right next to Connie.

“Hey Connie!” Steven said loudly over the other loud voices in the restaurant. “Forgot that this was happening today.”

“Don’t worry! I didn’t know either! WOOO!” Connie Cheered. “Lunch and a show! Probably the best way to spend the last day here, Biscuit!”

“True! But, what’s wrong with Pats?” Steven asked, gesturing over towards the slightly groaning Patricia, gently banging her head against the table.

“It’s because of Daniel.” Connie replied. “He’s competing as well. Not going to lie, but I don’t think he’ll make it.”

“Steven. Question.” Patricia asked as she stopped banging the table. “I remember Connie telling me that you had the ability to switch places with other bodies. So, be honest, Did you and Steven trade bodies, Danny?”

“Um… haven’t done anything like that in ages, so… I’m still Steven.” Steven said, taken aback by the odd question. “Why do you think I would do that?”

“Cause, I mean, This is odd.” Patricia spoke before turning her head to face the line of tables, in which a group of chefs placed large trays filled with fried ravioli in front of each of them.

“Doing it for you, Patty!” Danny called out to her.

“this… I can’t explain. He’s become the himbo supremo now. You’ve been usurped, Stev-o.” Patricia said, trying to smile as she shook her head. “You were supposed to be the himbo in all of this. What happened?!”

“Um, well, I don’t think I ever was ‘himbo supremo’.” Steven replied. “I don’t think I ever was.”

“Eh… you were a little bit of a himbo, Steven.” Connie spoke, cringing slightly. “But you grew out of it. It was a faze. And you’re all the better for I- GO AMY, GO!”

The competition began immediately, without Steven paying attention as to what caused it to start. Amethyst had gone with the ‘buried alive’ route and decided to bury her face into the incredibly hot tray of Ravioli. Ronaldo, oddly, took his time, inspecting each one with a fork as though he was criticizing each one. Inevitably, he bit into one, only to scream about how hot it was inside, being the first to tap out. Onion, being Onion, just began to eat them one by one. Almost rhythmically. As though he was putting them inside of a trashcan one at a time. It was unsure to Steven if Onion was even chewing. Daniel, resting somewhere on the scale of Ronaldo, and Onion, decided to try to eat as much as possible with his bare hands. His face showed that he was in pain.

“Oh, freaking jeez, Danny. I’m going to have to get him ice cream after this.” Patricia sighed. “No T shirt is worth this.”

“He’s doing it because he loves you, Pats.” Connie said as she waved her purple flag high.

“Oh really, Connie?” Patricia asked. “Then why isn’t Steven in the competition.”

“I can’t enter. I had something else going on.” Steven said before grabbing a bread stick off the table. “Lunch with you guys.”

Patricia looked at Steven with disbelief.

“W-what… What? What?” Patricia asked, looking confused. But before she could get her answer, a loud bell rang throughout the restaurant. As fast as the competition began, it ended with a clear, and obvious winner; Amethyst. Coming in at a close second was Onion. And an agonized Daniel, whose face was glowing bright red.

“Ooof… I’ll pay for the desert. Daniel looks like he’ll need it.” Steven said as he continued to munch on the bread stick.

“Nope.” Patricia said. “Do not reward this kind of behavior. Seriously, Danny, limadha hubibi (why my love)?”

“For… for the T-shirt…” Daniel groaned as he sat down right next to Patricia. “I wanted to get something nice for you.”

“You mean the T-shirt you can buy at the gift shop a few stores down?” Patricia asked in a dead pan voice.

“It’s the thought that counts…” Daniel replied. Suddenly, a T-shirt fell on top of him from above. Amethyst slithered herself between Connie and Patricia from underneath the table, and stretched out her arm that held the shirt until it was above him.

“There you go bud.” Amethyst said, squeezing herself between Connie and Patricia and getting comfortable.

“Hrmm… but you earned it though.” Daniel spoke. “Fair and square.”

“Dude, I have, like 14 of those things in my room. Plus, you did pretty well.” Amethyst spoke. “A little admirable that you needlessly tortured yourself just for a T-shirt though. But I guess it’s the thought that counts.”

“Oh… my lady?” Daniel spoke, as he offered Patricia the shirt.

“Thanks, Danny.” Patricia replied as she folded the shirt in her lap and kissed his cheek. “But, seriously, that kind of stunt is overrated. Just get me a desert next time, okay?”

“Eh… fair enough.” Daniel said. “I think I’m just going to sit here… and slowly die.”

“How do you feel being purple then?” Steven asked.

“…maybe just end up in a food coma.” Daniel abruptly changed his mind. “Also, hey Steven.”

“Hey.” Steven replied. “I probably should have mentioned something about those fried raviolis before.”

“You mean that they remain in a volcanic state long after they get out of the fryer?” Danny asked. “Or the fact that they’re made out of peppers as well?”

“Yes.” Steven and Connie said at the same time in a flat tone.

“Right…” Daniel acknowledged the absurdity of the answer he was given.

“I think It was nearly a year ago that we learned the hard way of how bad the fried ravioli really is.” Steven said.

“It was born out of enticing tourists. You would think the bouillabaisse alone would be enough, but everyone wants more spicy stuff.” Amethyst added, rolling her eyes. “I regret the day I gave Nanafua that fire-salt. Or at least until the check cleared.”

“Wait, THAT’S what’s made those things so hot?!” Steven exclaimed nearly loud enough for someone nearby to hear inside of the packed restaurant, prompting Amethyst to put her fingers to her lips.

“Not so loud, Steven!” Amethyst emphasized the need for secrecy. “Okay, so, yeah, that’s one of the things that makes them spicy. Also because of the habanero flakes on the outside. But still, it’s not enough to harm anyone. Plus, it shows the little pepper image right next to the number. People know what they’re getting into.”

“You… do have a point. And nothing burned down so far.” Steven said, understanding where Amethyst was coming from.

“Yeah.” Amethyst spoke before swallowing an entire bread stick whole. “So… last day, huh?”

“Yeah… last day…” Steven and Connie said at the same time, breaking a bread stick in half.

“Got fired from Little lappy café.” Steven said, sounding depressed. “Lapis wanted to make sure I didn’t have any doubts about leaving.”

“Wait, do you?” Amethyst asked quickly before pulling herself back into a state of mild disinterest. “I mean, did you?”

“Well, no. I don’t have any doubts.” Steven replied before turning to Connie. “Do you?”

“Not really. Kind of excited. Nervous, but excited.” Connie said, shrugging while smiling at Steven.

“Ah. Okay. That’s cool.” Amethyst said, sounding nonchalant about the topic. “I mean. It’s a good thing, you know. You both need the trip.”

“Definitely. I mean, 6 classes? What were you two thinking?” Patricia asked, looking confused.

“Every advice I’ve ever gotten about College was that you should start low and slow.” Daniel added. “Doing 6 classes last fall, at the last minute, is… almost as bad as going that eating competition. Seriously, Amethyst, how were you able to polish off an entire tray?”

“Practice, practice, motor oil. But back to the important thing about how you two decided in a momentary lapse of sanity to take on the course load of an undergraduate.” Amethyst replied, quickly changing the subject.

“It wasn’t that hard though.” Steven reasoned with the three of them, knowing full well that Amethyst is trying to avoid talking about the road trip.

“We just did a bunch of random, low-skill work in the first semester.” Connie said, helping Steven with his defense of workload. “Art appreciation, English 101H, Physics 101H, Philosophy 100, Psychology 100H. just easy stuff.”

“With all of those H’s though, how can it be so easy?” Patricia asked.

“Inept teachers with other things going on in their lives. As well as just reading the books.” Connie answered casually. “It all comes down to the fact that community colleges have a lower bar to get over than larger universities.”

“It’s pretty much free credits.” Steven added.

“And the recent semester?” Daniel asked bluntly, causing Steven and Connie to give off blank, tired stares.

“Mistakes… were made.” Connie replied, sounding numb.

“The world history teacher was… fickle.” Steven said, sounding just as numb as Connie. “I mean… maybe learning a lot about how much the Gems had changed the world wasn’t a good thing.”

“They thought that the world was only 50,000 years old, the ancient runs were built by humans gone mad, and that sneople exists.” Connie added, massaging her forehead.

“Writing finals essays are difficult enough with formatting, but do you know how hard it is to write 50 pages on how the flat earth theory might have some clout?” Steven spoke, emphasizing how crazy the topic was. “I wanted to do something normal like early human life, but nope. Randomized topics.”

“At least you didn’t get mine: Aliens among us.” Connie said, shaking her head. “It’s insanely difficult to be low key on the fact that gems exists, and are joining eating competitions.”

“Radfeld?”Amethyst asked. “Was he the one with that crazy class that nearly drove you two insane?”

Steven and Connie could only look at each other and chuckle slightly.

“Ah. Yeah. At least you guys didn’t have to turn in those essays though.” Amethyst pointed out. ‘It was like he had a change of heart.”

“Amethyst, we know you shape-shifted into a heavy cat and sat on his chest all night, saying he should quit and be an interpretive dancing mime.” Steven accused Amethyst. “We worked for a full month on those essays, and he just asked us to take a picture of the front cover of it.”

“All that work, and all he wanted was a picture of the front cover. Didn’t even want the freaking PD-freaking-F file.” Connie said through gritted teeth.

“And you’re welcome.” Amethyst said bluntly before downing the last of the bread-sticks. “But you see how much you need this vacation though?”

“Well… we know that we needed this, but… Amethyst? How are you feeling?” Steven asked, looking right into Amethysts eyes, who had quickly adverted his gaze.

“How am I feeling about you two leaving?” Amethyst repeated the question. “Well, I’m going to miss you. But you’ll be alright.”

“But will you be alright though?” Steven asked more directly. “I mean… I kind of feel like you’re not okay with me leaving.”

“WHAT?! Pffft, It’s fine man. I can always hang out with Patricia and Daniel.” Amethyst pointed out, trying her best to completely waving away any worries Steven and Connie had about them leaving. The look on Patricia and Daniels' faces looked as though they were about to burst Amethyst's bubble. “Um… why do you two look like you have something to say?”

“Because…we have something to say.” Daniel replied carefully.

“Kind of an announcement, really.” Patricia added. “You know about how Danny and I were thinking about doing something for a year while you two were gone?”

“Um… yeah?” Steven replied, still eyeing Amethyst’s emotions as they were slowly shifting from being assured that things were okay, to things being far from it.

“Well… we were able to pick up an internship… with the Zircons.” Daniel answered, also looking at all hope in Amethyst’s face vanishing.

“We’ll be working at the conciliate as interns for the ambassadors for Homeworld.” Patricia added on, sounding a little more enthusiastically. “It’ll be a huge boost for our political science majors.”

“Wait, would that count?” Steven asked. “I mean, I’m not sure there’s too many people outside of Beach City that know about Homeworld, or the Gems civilization for that matter.”

“Actually, it seemed like Pearl had some strings she was able to pull with the college showing that It would be completely legitimate.” Patricia replied.

“Really? And they didn’t freak out?” Connie asked, sounding doubtful.

“Apparently, taking the faculty board of the College on a tour of Homeworld seemed pretty convincing, as well as jarring.” Daniel replied. “Seemed like a couple of teachers quit after seeing Homeworld. To be honest, I would have too.”

“Wait, she took them to Homeworld? The consulate wouldn’t be on Earth?” Amethyst asked before quickly shoveling the last 4 bread-sticks into her mouth.

“Erm… yeah. We would be there for a month, then come back to Earth for a week, then back a month.” Patricia said, her excitement had waned when she saw the sadness in Amethyst’s eyes. “We could hang out then.”

“Uh…huh.” Amethyst replied as she slid underneath the table and stood back up on the other side. “I’m just… imma peace out now. Later... I guess.”

Amethyst flashed a peace sign, while trying her best to smile as she moon-walked out the door.

“She’s not fine.” Patricia said, looking over at Steven and Connie. “Is she? That’s not an ‘I’m fine’ face.”

“As someone who spent a good year pretending that everything isn’t fine, I can definitely say that she is not fine.” Steven replied, looking over at Connie, who seemed to share his concern as well and squeezed his hand.

“Yep.” Connie nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Steven has a heart to heart talk with his dad and Pearl.
> 
> Fun fact: I have never had a fried ravioli. with everything being closed, it's kind of hard to find an italian place that makes them. but, yeah.


	5. Heart To Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a heart to heart talk with his dad and Pearl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Simple story.

“Sour Cream?” Connie asked.

“Spends a lot of time doing independent DJ events in Empire City.” Steve replied. “Not sure if she’s welcomed back after the ‘crocalligator’ incident.”

“Right. Didn’t think they even existed.” Connie spoke, remembering reading about mutated alligators invading the sewers of Brooklyn.

“They don’t. she just used a ton of duct tape and green paint.” Steven added. “30 years later, and they’re still finding nesting areas.”

Steven and Connie spent the better half of the lunch eating quietly with Patricia and Daniel, sitting and worrying about the state that Amethyst was in during lunch. They walked on the beach, heading towards the Maheswaran’s house which was rebuilt 8 months ago. They held hands as they walked along, trying to figure out who she can hang out with when they’re gone. Just because Steven mostly patched up things between himself, Pearl, and Garnet, didn’t mean that Amethyst was ready to forgive. Steven still remembered what he, Priyanka and Garnet talked about earlier. The idea of having Amethyst joining them on their trip was slowly starting to appeal to Steven, but he wasn’t quite sure how to go about suggesting it.

“Vidalia?” Steven suggested.

“She’s… touring with Onion in Empire City next month.” Connie said, digging around her satchel and pulled out a flyer for a ‘gem of the stars’ art gallery. “Seems like her little Homeworld art class really took off. I even heard that Yellowtail is going to look for some jobs there.”

“Oh man… Onion being unleashed in Empire City.” Steven chuckled as he shook his head. “They’ll probably have to get Amethyst and her crocalligators to stop his reign of terror.”

“Or maybe have to bring in… wait, What about Peridot?!” Connie exclaimed. “Amethyst and Peridot have always been tight. And just getting this off of my chest, but is Peridot and Amethyst… erm… you know?”

“I… don’t actually.” Steven replied, now really considering the idea of Amethyst and Peridot hanging out more. “It could work. Not sure how often they hang out though. Amethyst had been spending some of her time being a guidance counselor at Little Homeworld. And Peridot’s been working either at the garden, and the café.”

“So… that would be a no?” Connie asked. Steven could only sigh as they got to their driveway.

“Maybe I should talk to Pearl and my dad.” Steven replied.

“Well, before you leave, I do have one idea. It might be a bit… odd.” Connie spoke, standing in front of Steven, holding both of his hands. “I’m… not sure what all was going to happen on this road trip. Like… if anything were to happen or not. I’m kind of nervous, but also excited.”

“I feel the same, Connie.” Steven said softly. “Maybe… nervcited? I think that’s a thing. I feel very nervcited.”

Connie chuckled as she gently squeezed his hands.

“But… The idea I had, and it’s just an idea, is… be our designated hitchhiker?” Connie asked, her eyes narrowed, bracing for another idea to be shot down.

“Actually… you mom gave me the same suggestion during therapy.” Steven replied, watching Connie’s face go blank. “Apparently, Amethyst never really got to hang out with the other crystal gems a lot when they went their separate ways every few hundred years.”

“Like what we read about in Buddy’s book.” Connie said, remembering that she had read that book from front to back to the point in which the library just let her keep it. “Every time he mentioned Amethyst, she was always by herself.”

Steven squeezed Connie’s hand tightly.

“Connie, If you want it to just be you and me… I’ll be okay with it. Kind of.” Steven said, looking deeply into her deep brown eyes. “And if you want Amethyst to come with us, probably meaning she would be either a chaperone, harmlessly deranged hitchhiker, or just a friend to join us, I’m okay with that too.”

“Really?” Connie asked.

“I know she’s like an older sister to me, but she’s also like a best friend to you as well.” Steven spoke empathetically to her. “We both care about her. She’s our friend. Family. And… I don’t want to leave her behind. I know that that’s like, and it really, REALLY sucks.”

Connie quickly latched herself around Steven, hugging him tightly.

“She can come with us.” Connie spoke into Steven’s shoulder. “Just… she get’s her own room whenever we find a hotel to stay at.”

“As long as we get past county lines before they find out she trashed the room, that’s fine by me.” Steven replied, squeezing Connie back.

“I’d love that.” Connie said as she moved away from Steven to look. “Kind of wished Patricia and Daniel stayed, I know Amethyst really liked those two. But this… is better.”

“And look at it another way, it could be good practice for being parents.” Connie pointed out.

“Us with a big, purple, 4,000 year old baby?” Steven asked.

“Oh, and what were you imagining our future family being?” Connie asked, with an inquisitive look on her face.

“Honestly, a miniature version of Stevonnie. A nonbinary smol bean named Vonvon.” Steven replied, shrugging.

“Vonvon, huh?” Connie responded, thinking about the name and what they would look like. “That… that sounds beautiful.”

“Yeah… well, here we are.” Steven said, looking at the rebuilt house that they were standing in front of for nearly 5 minutes. It looked as though it was never destroyed. “How much stuff do you still need to pack?”

“Haven’t started packing. Wouldn’t take long. Just need my clothes, books, laptop, and sword.” Connie answered unabashedly about procrastinating. “I was going to spend the rest of the time finishing up a Gundam model dad and I were working on.”

“Cool. I don’t have much left either. I was going to spend some time with my dad as well as Pearl.” Steven responded. “You were going to take the sword?”

“I wasn’t going to ask.” Connie shrugged. “It was going to come regardless.”

“I know. And I’m okay with that.” Steven said as he and Connie drew closer together for a small but meaningful kiss. “See you at the going away dinner, Strawberry.”

“Okay. See ya. Biscuit.” Connie replied, slowly dragging her hands out of Steven’s slowly, as though they were trying to enjoy the feeling of each other’s hands for as long as they could, before she went into the house.

Steven continued his trek south of Beach City, towards Roses tree, where his dad and Pearl had been hanging out at more and more. It seemed as though over the past year, his dad and Pearl had become best friends, sharing their love of music, as well as their mutual love for Rose. As he walked up the hill, he had remembered that the last time he went this was when his mom was still around. Thinking about it made his stomach ache, but only for a moment. It wasn’t pain from the gem, but pangs of depressed thoughts about those he loved who weren’t around anymore. The weird part about those pangs is that they leave nearly as fact as they game. As though any time he ever missed his mom, something within soothed him. ‘She’s with me.’ Steven thought to himself as he wiped away an errant tear from his eye.

The midafternoon sun sat comfortably in the sky. The time of year where it was nearly time for the leaves to start to fall. The contrasting shadows and sunlight on the grass and in the nearby forest seemed nearly balanced. The feeling of a fluffy warm quilt could be felt anywhere. He felt calm and comfortable. More so since he was close to the tree where his dad and Pearl were hanging out, playing music and chatting underneath the pink and white tree, sitting on the hood of his Dandai. His dad gently strummed his guitar free handedly while Pearl did the same with her acoustic bass. Pearl had finally gotten used to being more laid back, but also always made sure that Steven mattered to her. Seeing the two of them together brought warmth to his soul.

“Hey guys!” Steven called out to the two of them.

“Hey, Schtew-ball.” His dad replied, freeing up an arm to hug his son.

“Hello, Steven” Pearl said warmly. “How are things?”

“Well… just got done with my lunch date with Connie. Before that, had my final in-office session with Priyanka. Garnet was there as well.” Steven said, going backwards on the list of things that had happened today before stopping on what happened at ‘The Lil’ Lappy’ Café. “I’m… guessing dad already told you about what happened at work.”

“Yeah.” Pearl said, giving Steven a big hug. “I had a talk with her about that after saving Jasper from her constant attempts to drown her. Hrmm… odd sentence.”

“No job lasts forever, Steven.” Greg shrugged. “But she only did that to make sure you didn’t have to worry about trying to keep things situated there. You’re free!”

“Yeah… I am.” Steven sighed as he sat against the trunk of the tree. “But… she could have gone about it a better way though.”

“Indeed, she could have.” Pearl said, tuning her bass a little. “She was never known to be incredibly compassionate. But she did it because she didn’t want to make you feel like you were obligated to stay. She thought you might have been finding excuses to stay.”

“I… I guess I kind of was.” Steven knew where Pearl was coming from.

“You’re nervous, scared, but also excited.” Greg said as she gently placed his guitar on the roof of the trunk and sat down next to Steven.

“More or less.” Steven replied before realizing that his dad wasn’t asking him how he was feeling, but relating to his feelings.

“I was the same when I left college.” Greg said, patting Steven on the back. “I remember the morning that I packed up all I had with me in the dorm one evening. Doug helped. He knew that college wasn’t for me. He covered for me, and made sure no one else knew where I went.”

“Kind of crazy that you and Doug were roommates in college.” Steven spoke slightly amazed by the shared history.

“Yeah. It took a lot to keep things under wraps when I met up with him again. He didn’t even recognize me without my hair for a few months.” Greg chuckled as he shook his head. “But, yeah, he understood the feeling of parental burden. He knew I didn’t want to be there. He gave me a reason to leave college and pursue my dream.”

“And… what was it?” Steven asked. “Your dream? Did you find it?”

“Well… it found me.” Greg sighed. “I thought I wanted to be a musician. But in hindsight, I wanted to be free. Just given enough room to figure myself out. Being aimless is great and all, but it’s not a goal. It’s a wide river. And Rose was, well, my rock.”

Pearl chuckled as Greg’s subtle joke.

“She was definitely a rock people held on to.” Pearl sighed. “The rock that became an island that people decided to make a home on.”

“Yeah.” Greg replied. “But… she gave me a chance to grow freely here. I’m not a lawyer like what my parents wanted me to be, and I wasn’t the Rockstar I thought I wanted to be. I just ended up being the abstract person that I needed to be, whatever that may be. And I think that’s why a lot of people want you to go like Lapis and Jasper.”

“Yeah… but… guy’s, I have to ask you something. And I just need to be blunt.” Steven spoke, breathing deeply. “What about Amethyst?”

“Amethyst?” Pearl said, sounding surprised. “Like… you think Amethyst want’s you to stay?”

“Well… not exactly. I talked to Priyanka and Garnet about it.” Steven replied, looking down at the grass he ran his fingers through. “Garnet said that Amethyst might be lonely if I left.”

“Why would she be? Isn’t she going to hang out with Patricia and Daniel?” Pearl asked.

“They’re going to be on Homeworld, working as interns at the Earth embassy.” Steven replied. “They said they might not be around a whole lot.”

“Oh… I see…”Pearl spoke as she began to become lost in thought.

“And… I thought she would probably hang out with you, dad.” Steven said, looking back at his dad.

“I don’t think she’ll want to hang out with me anymore. I’m not as young as I used to be. Not as fun.” Greg shrugged as he rubbed the back of his head where his once long main was, had been trimmed back immensely a few months ago after a carnival ride incident. “Hate to say it, but… I don’t think she’ll want to hang out. She’s kind of grown attached to you and Connie.”

“If you want, Steven, I can always go and talk to her.” Pearl offered, but Steven slowly shook his head.

“I… had one other idea. And I talked to Connie about this. But…” Steven paused to drum up the courage before being cut off.

“You were wondering if I was okay if Amethyst went with you?” Greg asked, interrupting Steven’s flow, to which Steven shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah.” Steven replied. “I know you guys liked to hang out, and have been together as the crystal gems, but… I just wasn’t sure how you would feel. Trying to think ff it was okay if she went with us.”

Greg and Pearl looked at each other. Greg looked kind of smug while Pearl rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Well, Steven, Greg and I have actually thought about that.” Pearl said. “In the past, whenever we went our separate ways, Amethyst… kind of went on her own. A lot. Now thinking about it, she probably didn’t like feeling alone. It was something we regretted often. We hadn’t split up in about 200 years. We had to watch over the town and protect it from monsters. But now that the world is safe… She could use some time away from Beach City, to be with friends.”

“Wait… so… does that mean it would be okay if she went with us?” Steven asked.

“As long as Connie is okay with it-” Pearl attempted to speak.

“Which she is.” Steven interrupted. “She… also thought that too. She even brought it up before I did.”

“She did?” Greg asked.

“Yeah. She kind of felt bad that she would be leaving one of her best friends behind.” Steven replied, smiling at how sweet it was that she worried about Amethyst. “So… what do you think Pearl?”

Pearl looked at Steven for a moment, then at the ground, carefully thinking about the idea of Amethyst going away.

“It… would be up to her.” Pearl said. “I mean, you guys won’t be gone for more than a year, right?”

Steven’s eyebrows looked as though they were going to shoot up through the air.

“WHAT?! A year? Oh stars, no!” Steven exclaimed. “We’ll be back. This… Beach City is our home. We’ll be back.”

“With Amethyst with you, I doubt anything can go wrong.” Greg said as he stood up to put his guitar in the trunk of the dandai.

“Well, Greg has a point.” Pearl said, placing her bass in its case. “And Amethyst could use a change of scenery if she wanted. It’s been a while since she’s taken a long trip outside of Beach City, as have you and Connie. Also, it would make sure you two don’t come back with a plus one.”

Steven instinctively slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand hard.

“What is with people these days thinking that?” Steven groaned.

“I’m joking, Steven. Garnet already predicted when that will happen ages ago.” Pearl spoke without even realizing what she had just said, causing Steven to look at Pearl with disbelief. “Then again, anything and anyone can change. You did show us that. Plus, it was years ago when she did any more predictions like that.”

“I really hope not.” Steven said bluntly.

“Same. Some things should be left alone.” Greg agreed. “We trust you, Steven. If anything, I hope you come back with souvenirs.”

“Got any recommendations?” Steven asked.

“I’ll give it some thought.” Greg replied, placing Pearls bass in the back seat. “And thanks for letting me borrow the dandai while the van is in the shop, by the way.”

“Yeah. No problem.” Steven spoke. “How long will you be without a vehicle? And why did Bismuth need to see it? I didn’t think there was any problems with it.”

“There… wasn’t.” Greg said, slightly looking away from Steven. “It’s just a small tune-up.”

“Tune-ups don’t take more than 2 weeks.” Steven pointed out. “I helped her disassemble a redeye ship in less than a week once. A tune-up for a van shouldn’t take her more than an hour.”

“Well. It’s an old van, Steven.” Greg spoke, looking back at Steven directly. “It was kind of a klunker when I got it. It’s been in need of some mechanical love for some time. And I’m not sure if Bismuth knows how to disassemble human vehicles.”

“I’ve seen her reassemble an ancient human tank before, I’m not sure wha-” Pearl began to speak before being cut off.

“HEY PEARL! Did you check and see if that ice cream cake is ready for pickup yet?” Greg said, cutting her off from adding more doubt to Greg’s story. It seemed to have worked since Pearl had to frantically grab her phone from her gem to look at messages. “It’s okay Steven. Bismuth said that it should be ready this afternoon. You think you can swing by little Homeworld to pick it up?”

“Dad.” Steven said bluntly, not looking impressed with how his dad was lying. “What’s going on? Really?”

Greg sighed. Steven wasn’t a child anymore.

“Steven. Trust me. It’s kind of a surprise… that I need you to pick up.” Greg said, knowing that he couldn’t lie to him, but couldn’t quite tell him the truth. “I was meaning to pick it up earlier, but I lost track of time. Plus, I can trust you to drive it back safely. Bismuth is an incredible mechanic and forger, but driving human vehicles isn’t her strongest talent.”

“True…” Steven replied, remembering the time Bismuth had supped up Connie’s yellow scooter, but accidentally crashed it 15 seconds later. “That scooter was a bit OP.”

“It spat fire from the exhaust pipe.” Pearl spoke bluntly.

“Connie liked that it did that though.” Steven chuckled.

“But Steven. Trust me. Please?” Greg asked with a small smile.

“Yeah. Okay. I trust you.” Steven nodded. “I was planning on going to little Homeworld to say goodbye to some people.”

“You’re going to go talk to Lars?” Greg asked. His stomach slightly lurched a bit. Just thinking about either him, Shep, or Saddie, left him with a sour feeling in his stomach. Greg noticed this. “Steven. It’s been over a year now. I’m back in good health, and I forgave them. I know it’s hard, but… when was the last time you talked to them?”

Steven had to concentrate to figure out when was the last time he had seen them. It was well over a year ago, before the dreaded tour. But the last time he spoke to any of them was almost as long. Yet the last time he heard from them, Or received any messages, would have been about as recent as 6 months ago.

“It’s… been a while.” Steven replied, looking at the ground as he mentally tried to repress the soured memory of any of them.

“Steven. If you see Lars, try talking to him.” Greg said, causing Steven’s shoulders to slump. “You don’t have to forgive him or anything, but maybe let him know how you feel. Leaving Beach City with unfinished business, that feeling doesn’t make for a good road companion. Trust me. It took me ages before I confronted my parents. But it was for the best.”

“Okay… IF I see him, I’ll talk to him.” Steven replied, emphasizing the chance of him bumping into Lars randomly. “But no promises.”

“Not asking you to scout him out. Just if you see him… you’ll feel better. Take some of that mental baggage off of your mind.” Greg spoke before opening the front door of the car. “Do you need a lift?”

“No. I’m okay. It’s not too far. Plus it’s nice out right now.” Steven said, smiling slightly at the two of them. But before they got into the car, Steven had the feeling that he needed to ask them both right then and there. “Hey… before you leave… Actually. I’ll take that ride.”

Pearl and Greg smiled at each other before rearranging the guitar in the back seat for Steven to sit in. The drive didn’t take long, but it gave Steven the chance to ask them both something that was nagging him for a while. a difficult question.

“Hey… guys?” Steven asked the two people sitting in the front. “Do… do you miss Rose? Mom?”

“Yeah.” Greg replied instantly.

“Every day.” Pearl added.

“She’s… not gone, you know.” Steven spoke, placing his hand on his gem. “She… misses you both too.”

“Yeah. We know, Steven.” Pearl responded as a small tear ran down her eyes.

“How… how are you feeling?” Greg asked. “You okay, kiddo?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Steven said as he looked up to see his dad looking at him in the rear-view mirror. “Just… yeah.”

“We love you, Steven.” Greg said, giving a quick sniff before sighing. Steven knew that they all missed Rose as much as he did. But sometimes, hearing them say that made him feel less alone. Rose was a part of Steven, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t miss her.

“I love you both too.” Steven said, running his fingers over his gem, wondering if his mom could hear them. If she knew that they missed her as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Steven picks up a van while catching up with a few old friends.
> 
> past the halfway point.


	6. Wheels and Feels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven picks up the van from Bismuth's shop while bumping into an unexpected friend or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one... this one was an interesting one to write.

The ride into Little Homeworld felt surreal. The idea that this will be the last time he will see such an odd place for a while filled Steven with bittersweet feelings. Years before, prior to the ‘drill’ incident, it was a small, but vibrant community. Mostly crafts and workshops, with a few art studios. It was a community of Gems, unknown to the outside world. To put it into a proper term, it was a quaint walled village. These days though, the population now rivals Beach City.

The main tower near the center of the city acts as a magneto generator, using certain crystals and alien alloy. The main tower also acts as a small shuttle port going to and from Little Homeworld to the universe outwards. There were also medium high rises, no more than 6 stories tall, dotted the town, allowing other people to live there. Even though the majority of its inhabitants are gems, there had been a small group of humans living among them. They weren’t shuttered and clustered away from the community, but has become an integral part. Just like Beach City, humans and Gems live side by side. The main difference though was the main tower itself, and the fact that the energy it produces is more than enough to power both cities at once with ease. Beach City was the gateway to Earth and humanity, and Little Homeworld the beginning portal to Homeworld, Gem kind, and ultimately, the universe humanity had long to want to travel amongst.

It never ceases to amaze Steven. What a few years, and collaboration between civilizations, capable of creating something as small as Beach City, but as wondrous, if not more so, as Empire City. After driving a few blocks, they stopped at a brick building with a garage door that was connected to a large Quonset hut. ‘Bismuth & Co. Mechanics, Aeronautics, Armory, and Construction.’ Read the chiseled sign across the awning of the building. Steven got out of the car, looking at the front of Bismuth's shop. It used to be a small workshop that specializes in making armor, tools, and dies. Now, Steven could smell hot metal and hear quiet dinging sounds coming from within. Ever since what had happened at the fountain over a year ago, Bismuth had buried herself in her work. Steven was worried about her, but he had felt that he should keep his distance. The real reason why he came here was to close that distance, and reconnect before going away.

“Are you going to head back home after this?” Greg asked, poking his head out the window. “Or are you going to stick around here for a while?”

“I was thinking about heading by Connie’s house to hang out with her and Doug, if that’s alright?” Steven replied with a question.

“It’s perfect.” Pearl replied, poking her head out as well. “Give us a chance to prepare some things. Nothing big. Just, things.”

“Yeah. I understand.” Steven nodded. “Need me to get a flat tire on my way back? Run low on gas?”

“That won’t be necessary, knowing Bismuth, I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that ever again.” Greg replied with a smirk.

“You mean that YOU won’t have to worry about that?” Steven asked, causing Greg’s and Pearls face to turn to stone.

“Um, yeah. About that. Need to pick up a cake before it catches fire.” Pearl nonsensically blurted out.

“Wait, wha-”

“Punch it, Greg!” Pearl squawked piercingly, cutting Steven off before he could ask a question.

“Reno all over again!” Greg yelled before gunning the dandai down the mostly abandoned street, and seamlessly drifting the corner a couple blocks down the road.

“I’m… just going to go in now.” Steven told himself as he opened the heavy wooden door that had a smudged up showing the nearly visible ‘open’ sign.

Entering in, the brick building that stood as the front of the Quonset hut was only 5 feet deep, and contained a countertop with a few errant tablets strewn around, and a small bronze counter bell. Much of this waiting room looked old, despite the fact that I was all built a year ago. Steven did remember going to Empire City to look at antiques with Pearl, Peridot, and Connie in tow.

Steven walked up to the counter to ring the dented and dusty bell before stopping in his tracks. He sensed someone sitting in the row of seats near the door. He had turned slightly to see out of the corner of his eye an unusual person. They had a large tuft of light pink hair sticking on top of their slightly darker pink head. They wore a leather jacket that had some sort of patch on his shoulder that he couldn’t quite make out. Lars sat in the chair, slumped, and staring at his phone, looking as though he was texting someone. Steven didn’t want to bother him. Or, in reality, Steven just didn’t want to talk to him at all. Unless Lars see’s him, Steven turns around and pretends that he didn’t even notice Lars. But the moment he did, he saw a large, strong looking gem with rainbow hair walking towards them.

“Steven!” Bismuth exclaimed as she hugged Steven. “Been a while! Here to pick up your van?”

“Um… you mean my dad’s van? Yeah.” Steven replied, causing Bismuth to look slightly confused before her eyes widened.

“Oh, yeah, I meant your dad’s van. Sorry, long day. Speaking of, hey Lars, we’re almost done with the cruiser.” Bismuth told Lars, who looked up apprehensively from his phone. Looking like someone who didn’t want to be seen.

“Oh, um, great.” Lars croaked, smiling painfully at the two of them.

“I have no idea how you had those rocks lodged into your starboard intake, or even where you were flying it, but you might need either get a better navigation OS, or better flying skills.” Bismuth said, shaking her head. “Go on ahead and have a seat, Steven. I’ll be ready for you in a few moments. Need to add a few finishing touches.”

Bismuth turned away, slightly shaking her head, and muttering about dense asteroid belts and irradiated asteroids. Steven looked over at the chairs, and had decided to sit down a couple of seats away from Lars, who had gone back to looking at his phone. The silence between the two of them was unpleasant. At least it was for Steven. He remembered what his dad said about burying the hatchet, but some hatchets were too big to bury. I was content to sit there in silence. Lars, on the other hand, was always a difficult person to deal with.

“Hey, Steven.” Lars sighed, putting away his phone.

“Hey, Lars.” Steven replied, taking a better look at Lars’s patch from the corner of his eye, which read ‘Lars of the Stars, tourism and transport’.

“How’s… things?” Lars asked, causing Steven to passively question Lars’s motives.

“They’re there.” Steven replied. “Just picking up my dad’s van. Leaving Beach City tonight.”

“Leaving Beach City, huh?” Lars spoke, causing Steven to mentally kick himself for letting that last part slip out.

“Yep. Road Trip.” Steven said. A part of him nagged at him to continue to talk to him. “’Cruiser’?”

“Y-yeah. Doing galactic space tours. Nothing special. Just taking people to parts of space where I’ve been to.” Lars replied. “The off-colors and I… we just don’t quite feel like we fit in well here. At least I don’t.”

“Yeah.” Steven spoke. “It can be like that sometimes.”

“Yeah.” Lars said, sensing the small talk being more than anyone could deal with.

They continued to sit there for what felt like eternity. Steven could only think of a few things that would be a worse punishment than this. Looking beyond the counter, and into the giant workshop, he was hoping to see Bismuth come back through the opened double doors. But she was nowhere to be seen. The wait couldn’t have been worse. Sadly, it was.

“Steven?” Lars spoke, catching the reluctant attention of Steven. “I… I have to apologize.”

“For?” Steven asked flatly, looking at an old calendar from 30 years ago, showing an old, discolored image of an airplane.

“Everything.” Lars replied, with a moderate sense of regret in his tone. “Just… everything. Like… not sure where to begin.”

“Ah.” Steven said, trying not to pay too much attention to Lars. “it’s oka-”

“No, Steven. It’s not.” Lars said bluntly, looking directly at Steven. “I mean… how I treated you when we were younger. Treated Ronaldo. Sadie… I was an insecure little jerk. I thought I would have gotten better, more mature, like how I was out in space. Instead… I just got worse.”

“Lars…” Steven tried to speak, but words failed him.

“The band. The band, Steven… I was the one that broke it up.” Lars spoke as he slumped in his chair.

“Lars… not going to lie, but the indie ukulele trio kind of ended in 2015.” Steven said bluntly. “I’m just mostly angry at you, as well as Sadie and Shep, for nearly killing my dad with a heart attack.”

“That?” Lars spoke, sounding stunned. “That happened when he nearly fell over on a folding chair, trying to defuse an argument that was so stupid that I don’t even remember.”

“Wait… It was because he nearly fell over?” Steven asked with a cringed look of disbelief. “Are… are you kidding me?”

“The venue we were playing at wasn’t the best. The chair went through a trap door. He nearly fell in with it… of man.” Lars slapped his forehead audibly. “That’s what the argument was about. One of us picked the venue. Sadie did that time. Shep went along with it. i… thought the place was haunted, WHICH IT NEARLY WAS!”

“I… didn’t talk to you, Sadie, and Shep for over a year… because of a faulty trap door?” Steven asked, cringing even more. “That is the most unsatisfying reason to… just… I’m…”

Steven slumped in the chair.

“Have you… heard from her?” Steven asked. “Sadie? Or Shep?”

“Well, now that you mentioned it, I did. About a month ago. They heard about me being a captain of a spaceship that does tours to other planets.” Lars replied as he sat up a bit more. “I’m done playing gigs. But they were wondering if I could take them to other planets. Other colonies. They’re pretty big with gems.”

“So… you’re the driver?” Steven asked.

“I’m the captain of a spacefaring ship that goes across large stretches of space, to planets that have never been found by any other human being.” Lars replied with a sense of pride in his voice.

“That also happens to be the driver for a band that’s doing an intergalactic tour.” Steven added, slightly deflating Lars’s ego, causing him to snort and chuckle unabashedly.

“Not going to let me be the dashing captain, huh?” Lars asked as he chuckled.

“You were a bit of a jerk to me, so… kind of.” Steven smirked. “But… you have yourself figured out. So you have that.”

“What you?” What do you have going on, smart guy?” Lars asked.

“I got a road trip to go on. The details can wait when Connie and I get there.” Steven replied, not being fast enough to stop himself.

“Wait, you AND Connie are going on a road trip? TOGETHER!?” Lars exclaimed with a grin.

“You’re about to step on a landmine that will not leave you looking pretty, Lars, chauffer of the stars, to the stars.” Steven stopped Lars from saying anything anymore.

“Okay. Fair enough.” Lars said, backing away from the topic. “But… yeah. Sorry for being a jerk. And thanks for trying to save me back then.”

“It’s what I do… what I did. I’m retired.” Steven breathed a heavy sigh. “And… It’s cool.”

“Are you excited for your road trip?” Lars asked Steven.

“Excited, exhausted, anxious. But, yeah. I am.” Steven replied sitting back up in his seat.

“You’ve really grown man.” Lars noted. “Weird how things change. And how things… don’t.”

Steven looked over at Lars, staring at his hands.

“You okay?” Steven asked.

“Yeah. Kind of. Can’t say I’m immortal, but can’t say I’ve grown either.” Lars said, rubbing his slightly callused fingers with his thumbs.

“The lars I knew a long time ago wouldn’t ever apologize, let alone do something as extreme, or as exciting as being a space captain.” Steven mentioned. “A person can grow without looking like they have. Look at the Diamonds, Gems, they’re capable of changing. And speaking of, how are the off-colors?”

“Taking some R and R. We kind of flew through a couple of young nebulas on the way here, which was a rough ride. Didn’t think they would make for terrible short cuts.” Lars replied. “Yeah, asteroids, hot gasses, and definitely no high pitch screaming.”

“Gotcha.” Steven said as he nodded.

“But, yeah, they’re doing okay. Padparadscha seems to be getting better at seeing things more normally. Blue Diamond had really taken a liking to her to the point that she’s slowly becoming normal.” Lars spoke. “She’ll never see the future, which isn’t a bad thing.”

“It definitely isn’t.” Steven said, remembering the time he asked Connie to marry her. “Future vision is overrated.”

“Not completely. Could be useful to see probable outcomes of jumps and junk.” Lars pointed out.

“Eh… fair point.” Steven nodded, and had gone silent for a few moments before speaking again. “Listen… Lars. Connie’s family and I are going to have a going away dinner later on this afternoon. I was wondering if you might show up. If you want to of course.”

Lars looked over at Steven with a smile.

“Really, man?” Lars asked.

“Yeah, really.” Steven said. “And you can bring an ube roll for my dad for brownie points if you want.”

“Well… I don’t think I can make one of those. At least not from scratch.” Lars sighed. “Bit the 3D food printer on board had a copy of those things if you don’t mind it tasting a little like it was store bought.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Steven nodded. He missed Lars pastries and baked goods. sharing one more slice of an Ube roll with Connie before leaving Beach City would really end things on a good note. “See you there then.”

A moment later, Bismuth had waved Lars and Steven over into the large workshop area. The immense size of I was hard to properly convey to anyone who had never been inside. The closest Steven could think of is how one would describe a ruby ship. On the outside, it would look to be one size, but on the inside, it felt larger. Sections of walls were reserved for either making blades, armor, tools, etc. other areas had giant racks that held odd machinery that didn’t look to be of earth origin. A few cars could be spotted in designated areas, surrounded by tool carts and odd computers. None of those things really caught Steven’s attention more than the ship that hung from the workshops ceiling. As it was slowly lowered to only a few feet above the ground, Steven saw that it nearly looked like a human space shuttle, except it was much broader. It was painted a bright bubblegum pink, with black stripes. Unlike the sun chaser he once owned before, this was smoother. No straight edges or angled corners. It looked streamlined and slick. Polished to perfection.

“This is yours?” Steven asked, walking around the ship slowly, scanning the exterior of the ship. “What happened to the Sunchaser?”

“Eh… it went back to its original owner.” Lars said, rubbing the back of his head. “But since I took such great care of it, the Diamonds gave me this one. It may not have guns, but it can go places.”

“Yeah… just hopefully not through any more asteroid fields.” Bismuth added. “I put some better shields and booster engines on it, but this isn’t a Sunchaser. So just try to be more careful will ya?”

Lars looked disheartened. Steven could sense that he missed the days of dogged pursuits by vengeful gem admirals, the rush of adventure. Steven didn’t really miss that kind of action himself, but it didn’t mean that Steven couldn’t feel sympathy. It was almost like the same vibe he got from Jasper when she was slowly coming into her own. In time, so will Lars.

“Alright. I’ll try to take it easier.” Lars replied as he shrugged and mustered a small smile.

“As for you, Steven, I just want to go on the record to say that even though I have learned a few things from the scooter incident, I can proudly say that this may yet be my finest work yet on a human vehicle.” Bismuth said as she grabbed a hanging switch and pressed a button. A vacated, circular area on the workshop floor had opened up like an aperture on a camera lens, showing a van that was covered in blue vinyl film, slowly lifting up on a circular platform. “Taa-daa!”

Steven stared at the ordinary blue van. The outside looked cleaner, and the wear and tear dents were gone. But a few things stood out for Steven: for one, the vinyl coverings seem to be hiding the old lettering and design, which even the slightly embossed areas which would have shown some form of design beneath were gone. The second thing that caught his eye was the gem, sitting in the passenger seat. A gem who was wearing a poncho with a hood, and whom also looked like a younger Connie. Obsidian. And she was making the sounds of a fast car while turning the steering wheel frantically. Steven walked up to the driver’s side door, and knocked on the window. One final thing Steven noticed that the window didn’t need to be manually rolled down. This stunned Steven.

“What seems to be the officer, problem?” Obsidian asked jokingly. Steven could see the interior of the van and couldn’t help to be both amazed, and also confused. “How bout this, I’ll let you in if you promise to be a hook wielding maniac.”

“Um… don’t you mean that I should promise to NOT be a hook wielding maniac?” Steven asked, now confused for another reason.

“Nope!” Obsidian said, sticking her tongue out slightly for a moment. “Listen, I’m bored. I missed out on the drill fight from a couple of years ago. I need danger, man!”

“Nope.” Steven said. “No more danger. Not for me at least.”

“Yeah… I know…” Obsidian sighed as she slumped down in the driver seat before looking over at Steven. “Alright. I’ll move over.”

Obsidian opened the door of the driver's seat and moved over to the passenger side. Carefully looking around, Steven noticed that the door no longer squeaked when opened. The door handle felt smoother than the rough, nearly rusted one that was there before. The door itself felt lighter as he swung it open a little more. The seat was no longer leather. Instead, it was a fabric that both felt like silk, as well as sturdy like denim. The chair didn’t creek, but it felt like it was on a hydraulic system. It felt firm, but not uncomfortable, as though it was made for him. The passenger’s seat looked almost the same, with swinging arm rests. The interior was drastically changed as well. The dashboard had gone from being analog, to being completely holographic, as it just switched on the moment Steven sat in the driver’s seat and placed his hands on the wheel. The steering wheel itself looked like the old one, but it felt as though it was receiving feedback from him, as though he was touching the screen on a smartphone. The dash itself looked like it was made of a hard plastic, but felt soft and cool to the touch. The console was nothing but a flat touch screen that showed temperature controls, radio, wireless phone and music player settings, seat warmers, even a setting to keep drinks warm. None of this looked real. It seemed like something out of either a dream, or a spy movie.

And all of this was what he saw before he turned to look in the back. He knew his dad had a lot of clutter in the back of the van, but seeing it looking so clean made Steven question how big the van really was. It looked too spacious, even with a second set of seats that looked to be made of the same materials as the front seats. Gauging the distance from the driver’s seat to the back, Steven got out and counted his steps to the back, and opened the rear doors. Steven was stumped again by how deep the van was inside as it was outside. Even as he still held his arms wide, and touching both doors, the inside width didn’t seem to match with the outside. It almost felt disorienting, but not enough to bother Steven as much as he was both questioning reality as much as he was shocked by what Bismuth had done.

“W-what… what’s going on… I’m… huh?” Steven tried to ask a question, but failed to find one that would make any sense.

“If you’re talking about dimensions, I figured out a way to use the same tech you would find inside of a ruby’s ship.” It’s not tripled in size though, but you have nearly twice the room as you did before. Trippy huh?” Bismuth grinned.

“Trippy is an immense understatement.” Steven blurted out. “It’s… it’s…”

“Described as something that if you were to say it, very stern British lawyers will be very angry with you.” Obsidian said looking over the headrest of the passenger’s seat. “But yeah. Trippy.”

“That’s not all though. take a look around the outside. Notice that there’s no fuel doors on the side?” Bismuth asked, causing Steven to nod. “Two words, Steven: Hydro. Electric. Micro solar mesh on roof to capture solar energy, while also being a tinted sunroof AT THE SAME TIME! Picked that piece of tech from somewhere in Europe. And for those who fear that the sun vanished forever like humans did centuries ago, if we look at the front of the van, you can see that he grill looks slightly different, because it sucks up both moisture particles, separates the oxygen from hydrogen, and uses the hydrogen atoms to power up fuel cells in the van. You’re literally sucking up the fuel, man!”

Bismuth looked ecstatic at her magnum opus

“Wow… really…cool.” Steven could only muster up small simple words while trying to process everything Bismuth was saying.

“But wait little buddy! There’s more!” Bismuth declared loudly and proudly as she pointed at one of the tires, while pulling a sword from the wall nearby, and attempted to shove it into the tires. Every time she did, it just bounced off, or absorbed the shock of the heavy, sharp looking sword. “The only way those things can deflate is… actually… they cant! All terrain, runs on literally everything but water and air. No worries about ice, loose sand, gavel, whatever the world wants to yeet at you and Connie, this baby can take it! Even the windows can’t break! Go on! Grab an object, throw it at the glass! The only thing vulnerable about this is the… shoot. Don’t throw anything at it.”

“Wait, why not?” Steven asked as he was eyeing a large wrench.

“The vinyl wrapping.” Bismuth said, walking over to see if there was a small bubble protruding from the van’s sole sliding door. “Just promise me you won’t unwrap that until this evening. Oka- OBSIDIAN NO!”

Steven turned to see Obsidian, standing behind a work bench, and flinging small wrenches at the driver side door with impeccable accuracy. And with each wrench hitting the window at speeds fast enough to cause them to whistle slightly, they bounced off of it, landing in a neat pile on another nearby work bench. And with each wrench that hit it, the window made a slight ‘bong’ sound. As she ran out of wrenches, both Bismuth and Steven looked at both Obsidian, and the driver side window with shocked looks.

“The glass… not a scratch.” Steven spoke softly, as both he and Bismuth inspected the flawless, slightly tinted window. “Those wrenches were flying fast enough to at least break a hole through and through.”

“Advanced poly carbonate-laminated mesh using materials from Homeworld.” Bismuth replied bluntly. “They also collect solar energy as well. Technically, the windows would outlast the van itself if left in harsh conditions. The only other time I’ve created something this durable, as well as beautiful was when I made Connie’s sw…”

Bismuth trailed off before giving Steven a big hug.

“Bismuth.” Steven spoke as he hugged back.

“I’m sorry, Steven. I’m just… I’m just going to miss you and Connie is all.” Bismuth said, trying to hold back most of her tears. “Also… this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever created for either you, Connie, or even your… mom…”

“Um, you know I’m still here, right?” Lars called out. “Standing right next to a ship that you just fixed…”

“Either join the hug, skinny, or fly away.” Jasper said bluntly, still hugging Steven. As per some unspoken and unwritten law, Lars walked over to give Steven a big hug. “There you go.”

“I… kind of was looking forward to doing this when I was about to go… but we can hug it out here too.” Steven said as he wrapped an arm around Lars as well.

“yep. Just another moment in the life of Steven.” Obsidian said, now laying on top of the roof of the car “And I’m not saying that cause I’m salty for not being able to get in on that, but… meh. I’m good.”

“I’m going to miss you though.” Bismuth said. “You’ve made a difference than any other gem I’ve met. You changed things in ways I never thought was possible. I’m proud of you. And I know your mom would be proud of you as well.”

Those were words Steven had been hearing a lot. They kept saying that his mom would be proud of him, but they’ve never thought about how proud his mom would be of them.

“She would be proud of you as well, Bismuth.” Steven said as he let go. “Don’t cut yourself short. I mean… That!”

Steven pointed towards the van.

“Yeah… that’s a pretty sweet ride.” Lars mentioned.

“Plus, you kind of built most of Little Homeworld with your bare hands, Bismuth.” Steven added some more. “My mom would be… no… is. My mom is really proud of you as well. If she’s a part of me, then yeah. she’s proud of you.”

“T-thank’s Steven.” Bismuth said, wiping a tear away. “It’s nice to hear thing’s like that.”

“I like your work too you know.” Lars mentioned, feeling ignored.

“I know, but that’s just repairs. But this… was my way of wishing I could have apologized to her.” Bismuth sighed. “I never got the chance to. We may have butted heads on certain things. Some of those times we butted heads harder than usual. But, I still wanted to say something.”

Bismuth walked over to the passenger side door, and looked into the mirror, looking longingly at her reflection. Steven walked up behind her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“This says more than words ever could, Bismuth.” Steven said, smiling softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: Steven and Connie spends a little time with Doug before taking one last ride through Beach City.


	7. Afternoons with Doug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Connie spends some time with Doug, while Obsidian tries her best to not embarrass Steven and Connie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to get the three of them together one last time, doing something i think Doug does as a hobby when he can.

Bismuth and Lars agreed to meet up at Steven’s house later on. Lars took his ship, and flew it through the giant opened skylight above them and went to the tower to dock it. Bismuth gave Steven one final hug, and promised to see him at the going away dinner later on, just before he and Obsidian drove the van out of the garage opening, and on their way to Connie’s house.

The van moved as smoothly as it looked. The old van used to throttle from time to time, the brakes creaked, and for one reason or another, it always felt like it lurched to the right every so often. But even then, it had its charms. The slight musty smell, the well-worn seats, the slightly staticky sound from the speakers. Yet, oddly enough, as Steven entered into Beach City limits, he could still sense the smell. The seats felt comfortable enough to nearly be considered as ‘well worn’, and to his amusement, the sound system had a ‘classic’ setting, which replicated any sound that played through the speakers and subwoofers to sound almost like it was being played through old speakers. All the charm Steven would have missed from the old van was carried over. He still hasn’t checked out most of the back part of the van, but it seemed like Obsidian was doing that job for him.

“DUUUUUUUDE!” Obsidian laughed loudly “The back of the van is really weird. I dunno how she did it, but it’s like double the volume. I think you could fit a full size bed in here with room for a small refrigerator… which… wha?”

Steven looked at the rear-view mirror at Obsidian shuffling around and also hearing random clicks and quiet hisses.

“What… what are you doing back there?” Steven asked, sounding very worried that something bad might have happened.

“You know how I said you could put a bed back here with room for a mini-fridge?” Obsidian asked.

“Yeah?” Steven replied, sounding more and more concerned by the second.

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.” Obsidian said as Steven could barely see her in the back.

“Why?” Steven asked as he pulled up to the Maheswaran’s house. “Obsidian, what happened?”

“Come around and see!” Obsidian called back.

Steven took his hand off of the steering wheel, pressed the ignition button off, and hurried around the side of the van to open up the back. What awaited him was an unusual sight.

“Dude, I don’t think you can fit a bed in here. It’s already has a freaking futon in here!” Obsidian said as she sat on what looked to be a collapsible tri-fold futon frame that was sunken into the floor of the van. A small projector popped out from behind Obsidian in a hidden compartment. Two different sized racks protruded outwards that look like it was meant to hang up two different musical instruments. And as was noted, a door near the back of one of the passenger seat was opened, showing a slight plume of refrigerated fog escaping. “Why would you ever want to sleep in a fancy hotel when you got this?”

“Bathroom?” Steven asked flatly as Obsidian took a long sip from a can of root beer.

“Oh, right, forgot humans did that.” Obsidian nodded. “Well, I guess Lion and Amethyst have a bed to sleep on now.”

“why do you think Amethyst or Lion would be sleep-” Steven got his answer to a question he hadn’t asked yet by way of Obsidian tapping her gem. Steven felt disappointed. “I really thought I wouldn’t have to deal with future vision anymore.”

“It’s not future vision per se, but more like precautionary measures. You and Connie can’t stay in hotels forever. Plus, you got a sun/moonroof, so you would be idiots to not want to sleep under the stars every so often.” Obsidian spoke, making a few good points. “Listen, Steven, I know I was always a little weird, and cryptic, but if I’m going to be honest, I just wanted to say that…”

“Yeah?” Steven probed Obsidian. All she could do was look at Steven with an uncertain look on her face.

“I-I just wanted to say that Doug and Connie are waiting inside.” Obsidian said, taking another sip before moving over to the back doors of the van. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to lounge around here while you, Connie, and Doug hang out, as well as give me a chance to find a way to say I’ll miss you.”

“huh?” Steven sounded stunned at what Obsidian said as she slammed the doors on Steven. Obsidian was right about a few things though, they probably were waiting for him, and that she’ll need some time to mull things over.

The house looked almost the same as it did before Spinel came to Earth. It felt warm, lived in, comfortable. The only additional things they’ve added was that it had two new offices. One for Doug’s model collection, and one for Priyanka’s medical files and computer, with a connecting doorway into both rooms.

Doug’s office had models of anime robots, ships in bottles, and a few nick-nacks and pictures of fake wanted posters, as well as assorted pictures of sceneries around Beach City. But some of his most prized possessions sat on a desk facing a window, looking out at the ocean. A few pictures rested against the windowsill of himself, his wife, and Connie on vacation. An old photo of himself and Greg during college, playing on guitars. A wedding photo of himself and Priyanka. And finally, a picture of both families, and an assortment of gems in a group photo.

The desk wasn’t just reserved for pictures. Right now, Connie, Steven, and Doug were finishing up a modestly sized model of an anime mech from a very old show that they’ve been working on for a couple of months. As the last piece was put into place, the three stood back and looked at the 6-inch model replica of the mech, painted to look like an odd looking Stevonnie.

“You know, it might not be true to the original show, but I think it looks better this way.” Doug said, looking over the color scheme. “Nice work, you two.”

“Thanks, Doug.” Steven replied.

“Thank you, dad.” Connie added as well.

“Now just need to let it sit for, eh, maybe 30 minutes, so the paint can dry.” Doug said, looking up at the clock.

“But isn’t that quick drying?” Steven asked.

“Yeah, but it would also get everyone else time to get dinner ready.” Doug replied. “Plus, it would give us time to talk about your trip.”

“Oh boy.” Steven sighed “How awkward will this be?”

“Like, on a scale of 1 to 10?” Connie asked. “Just so I can psychologically prepare?”

“Nope. Not awkward. Just wanted to go over a few things.” Doug attempted to reassure the two of them, who looked like they had their doubts. “Okay, mildly awkward, but only because you’re both pretty much adults. I’m not putting down ground rules or anything. I just want to know that you two will be safe.”

“And wanting to make sure we’re not coming back with a plus one?” Connie asked flatly.

“That… where did that come from?” Doug asked, looking mildly shocked and confused.

“Well, you see, assumptions like that come from when two people love each other very much…” Steven jokingly responded, causing Doug to cringe.

“Oh, man, no. just… I’m supposed to make things awkward, not you two!” Doug exclaimed while the two of them chuckled. They moved the conversation down stairs and into the dining room table. They sat near one end of the table, Doug slowly shaking his head, and both Steven and Connie patted him on the shoulder.

“Sorry about that, Dad.” Connie said. “It’s been kind of a recurring theme. All day.”

“But if it helps, we’re thinking about bringing Amethyst along.” Steven mentioned, catching Connie’s attention.

“Pearl said yes?” Connie asked.

“She said it was up to Amethyst if she wanted to join us.” Steven replied. “But she did say that she would be more than okay with it.”

“Well… it wouldn’t be so bad if she joined you two.” Doug said, nodding at the idea of Amethyst joining them. “Not saying she would be acting as a chaperone, but she could benefit from joining you two. She’s been feeling down lately.”

“Yeah. I kind of sensed that.” Steven spoke. “It wasn’t only until today that Connie and I agreed on having her joining us.”

“Probably for the best. She was able to find a job for Spinel, finally. Care to take a guess?” Doug asked the two of them.

“Um… geology?” Connie asked, causing both Steven and Doug to groan slightly and shake their heads.

“Nope.” Doug sighed. “Carnival clown at Funland amusement park.”

“Ah. A bit on the nose, but would she be happy with that?” Steven asked rhetorically.

“She seems to be taking a liking to it. I’m… also working there as well.” Doug spoke hesitantly. “Mostly making balloon animals and juggling. It’s not like we’re in desperate need of money now. I can technically retire, and just spend my days building models. But it would get boring really fast. Boring… and a little lonely.”

Connie gave Doug a hug while Steven patted his back.

“Are you okay… with all of this?” Steven asked. “Us leaving?”

“Eh… yes and no.” Doug shrugged. “On one hand, yeah, because you both deserve a long vacation. But no because, well… you’re growing up. Both of you.”

“Ah…” Steven nodded, understanding where Doug was coming from.

“Well… It’s not like we’re gone forever. Maybe be back in a few months. We’ll talk whenever we can.” Connie reassured her dad. “It’ll be alright.”

“Yeah, I know it will.” Doug agreed. “I’m retired, trying my hand at being a professional goofball I always was, and I’m surrounded by good people. Beats any other job I’ve ever had. Doesn’t mean I won’t miss you both.”

“We’ll miss you too, Doug.” Steven said empathetically.

“Yeah… so, where do you think you’ll be going first?” Doug asked.

Steven and Connie went down the list of places of interest they wanted to go to. They knew of a few human places they wanted to go to, but most of it was just to retrace some of the steps from buddy’s book. They wouldn’t be able to retrace all of the places he had been to since many of those places are found on the other side of the globe. Steven didn’t mind doing the human things though. In fact, most of the human places they had listed were his suggestions. Going up north to watch the leaves change and then driving along the rivers, the lakes, mostly in the form of a comfortable, nature drive. Something devoid of any stress. Connie, on the other hand, wanted to check out some of the places in the book they had never been to. Steven wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, but with the help of Pearl and Jasper, they were able to not only mark stress free places of interest, but also a few more places that Buddy had never gone to before. Part scenic drive, part exploration into an odd and mysterious past. It would take them at least a few months to make it through a few places. But if they wanted to explore everything on the map, it would take them around 6 months in the northern American continent alone. And nearly a year to explore the world at large. Although the idea of Connie being gone for almost half a year didn’t sit well with Doug, they did point out a few undiscovered warp pads that they could use to get home with. Although it was some reassurance to his subconscious mind, Doug turned his attention to Steven.

“That’s… a lot of places to visit.” Doug said, looking at Steven with uncertainty. “You sure you’re alright going on a trip that long, Steven?”

“I’m okay with it. Kind of daunting, but after the past few years… past decade… after literally everything, something laid back like this would do us some good.” Steven replied. “But I get what you mean. No real stress here.”

“Okay. Just looking out for you is all.” Doug spoke. “So how are you going to go to all of these places in the dandai? No offence, Steven, but I’m not sure how long that thing would last on a trip this long.”

“Well, I think I have a sinking suspicion that I might not be taking the Dandai.” Responded.

The three of them had gone outside so that Steven could show them the rebuilt van. Looking around it, the two of them were stunned with how it looked. It looked new, but also like the old van. Content with how it looked outside, Steven opened up the back to reveal to them the big changes to the interior. Even if Obsidian had made a bit of a mess, showing all of the amenities it had to offer, Doug and Connie looked dumbfounded as to how much it changed. But more than that, they were trying to figure out why it looked out of proportion from the outside.

“So… mini fridge, futon, projection screen, surround sound, and also turning the fabric of perceived space/time on it’s ear.” Connie listed off all the things she’s noticed. “Yep, I’m in love with this van. Not as much as you, Steven, but this is up there.”

“Yeah… this… Isn’t this Greg’s though?” Doug asked as her tried to feel both sides of the van’s walls to understand just why it looked so much bigger on the inside.

“I have a sinking suspicion that he’s going to give it to me.” Steven replied.

“With all of these things, why would we ever need to get a hotel?” Connie asked as she took a seat right next to Obsidian, showing how much they looked alike.

“Bathroom.” Obsidian replied. “Yeah, I forgot about the whole bathroom thing too. Don’t beat yourself up.”

“Fair point.” Connie said.

“I would ask if you’re sure if Greg would give you his van, but knowing how much work went into remaking this, he would definitely be giving this to you.” Doug spoke. “And with the bed, I guess it would make it easier for you three to be driving and navigating in shifts.”

“Well, there’s GPS built into it, but it would be nice to just have someone to talk to while driving.” Steven added. “Plus, I think the futon was meant for either Lion or Amethyst.”

“We could probably kick them out for a night or two to just camp out somewhere.” Connie spoke as she just found another compartment for books in case they couldn’t find anything on. “’Spirit Morph Saga’? Yeah, Greg’s giving you the van.”

As the afternoon waned on, the shadows on the ground grew longer. Every time Steven noticed it, his stomach lurched slightly in anticipation. It was almost time to go.

They took the long way back to the temple. Obsidian still lounged around in the back while Doug sat in the back seat inspecting the seatbelts. Connie sat up front, studying the main panels and controls while Steven could only look out at the window at all the houses, and a brief glimpse of the ocean on either side. He had remembered the time long ago when he had returned to Beach City after a semi-okay/death-defying vacation where he and Connie had shared their first kiss. They had returned to a welcome home party where almost everyone was there. But now, bittersweet emotions had begun to slowly swell up inside Steven. He was honestly going to miss Beach City. Not just miss it in passing, but miss it even before he leaves.

Of course, there were times where he had a few unfavorable moments, like the time He and Connie fought the training drone out front of the movie theater. The roads were repaved afterwards, if not a couple times more after that. But even driving over the parts where the road was destroyed, Steven could have sworn that he felt some errant bumps in the road, despite the van’s highly efficient shock absorbers. There might not have been visible bumps, but Steven could have felt it in his mind.

As he continued driving, he wasn’t paying too much attention to everything that was going on. He just drove, absorbing everything he could. It was as though he was packing these memories and moments up inside his mind and heart. Taking it all in one last time.

“…Steven…. Steven?” Connie's voice came through to him. He looked around and saw that he parked in front of the boardwalk and Funland amusement park. He wasn’t sure how he got there, or why. But all he knew was that he was parked viewing the ocean, the causeway leading to the old Diamond cave, and the old northern pier ruins. A few tears going down his face.

“I- sorry.” Steven said, wiping away a couple of tears. “Just wanted to pull over for a bit is all.”

“Are you okay, Steven?” Doug asked, patting his arm.

“Yeah… I’ll be alright.” Steven replied. “Connie… are you going to miss this place too? All of this?”

“What? Um, yeah. of course I am.” Connie replied. “I was talking about some of the places we were driving by, and talking about which place I would miss. You were listening to me… you were listening to me, weren’t you?”

“I… wasn’t. My mind was also on what I’m going to miss too. I guess I just subconsciously parked.” Steven replied. “I’m sorry, Connie. I’m going to miss a lot of this too. Just taking one last look at it all.”

“Yeah. Same.” Connie spoke, holding Steven’s hand. “But we’ll be back again. We’re just going to go make new memories out on the road. We’ll be back.”

Connie reached over to kiss Steven on the cheek softly.

“Thank you, Strawbs.” Steven said.

“I was going to say that we should be heading back to your house Steven.” Doug mentioned as he quietly cleared his throat. “But… we can wait here for a few moments. This place kind of reminds me of where I grew up out west. Morrow Bay.”

“Morrow Bay?” Steven asked, still holding Connie’s hand as he watched the ocean waves shimmer on the horizon. “Where’s that?”

“It’s near the central coast in California.” Doug replied. “Small town. Large jutting rock in the middle of the ocean. A few restaurants. Just, kind of quiet. Kind of like this place. If you’re planning on swinging by, let me know.”

“Okay. I will.” Steven replied, completely dazed and mesmerized by the ocean. He never really just sat out on the beach and stared off. To him, this would be as good a time as any. And it might have been fate, but a few moments later, he heard a slightly high-pitched voice coming from the entrance of Funland. Looking over, Steven saw that Spinel was walking out, carrying a duffle bag and wearing half of a clown costume, as well as her hoody.

“Steven!” Spinel called out as she ran towards the van. “I wasn’t sure if that was you or not!”

“Hey Spinel!” Steven called out to her as he rolled down the window. “What do you think?”

“About you coincidentally being here as I get off my shift, or about the van?” Spinel asked doing a brief look-over of the vehicle. “Not bad though with the van. Kind of looks the same, looks different, and also it’s covered with some blue vinyl film.”

“Yeah, she said not to take off the wrapping until after dinner.” Steven said.

“Need a lift?” Connie asked Spinel, catching her off guard.

“Um… well… if you’re offering, I don’t see why not.” Spinel replied, causing the back door of the van to spring open.

“Back here, Skinny-Spiny! We got free candy!” Obsidian yelled out of the back of the van, causing Steven to nearly hit the horn on the steering wheel.

“Ah. Neat.” Spinel spoke, looking awkward as she walked around to the back of the van. “Wow! She actually scrapped those ruby ships to make the inside of this place bigger? I didn’t think she would do that, but nice!”

Spinel climbed into the back and sat with Obsidian.

“Don’t worry, Steven. I don’t think anyone noticed.” Doug said, looking around. “But… maybe we should go sooner rather than later.”

“You’re not wrong about that, Doug.” Steven sighed as he switched on the engine. “You’re not wrong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Steven and Connie have a surprise for Amethyst. At the same time, Steven and Connie have one final dinner with the whole family before going on a road trip of their lifes.
> 
> The ending there... it made me a little misty eyed. i wrote that around Halloween. i wasn't sure what the future had for me after certain events earlier this month. kind of a bittersweet drive for Steven and Connie.


	8. For The Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Connie offers Amethyst a proposition before their final dinner with the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of a bitter-sweet thing for me to write. I wasn't sure if this was the last story i would write for this AU or not...

The bedroom door creaked open as Steven walked in. looking over on his bed was Amethyst, sitting quietly with her back away from the door. Steven didn’t need to say anything. He knew what was wrong.

“Hey…” Steven said softly, catching Amethyst’s attention.

“Oh… hey.” Amethyst spoke, sniffing a little and rubbing her eye before turning around. “Didn’t hear you drive up.”

“Yeah… picked up the van from Bismuth's shop.” Steven said as he walked over to the bed to sit right next to her.

“Ah… how is it?” Amethyst asked.

“Well… It’s roomy, that’s for sure.” Steven replied as he looked over at Amethyst holding one of Steven’s stuffed animals. MC Bear-Bear was one of the oldest stuffed animals he still kept. The others were given to Onion, but he couldn’t bear to part ways with this one. No pun intended.

“That’s nice… I guess.” Amethyst said, gently caressing the stuffed animal as a teardrop landed on the bear's stomach. “R-remember when I got this for you?”

“Yeah… my 8th birthday.” Steven reminisced. “It was the dart throw. You won it for me after spending a ton of money just to get it.”

“Money well spent.” Amethyst spoke softly, her voice cracking. “First time I’ve ever legitimately won anything there.”

“Really?” Steven asked as he sat closer to her.

“Yep… That place was open for over 80 years, and it always seemed like the only way to win anything there was if you were really skilled, or you set something on fire, take everything, and ran.” Amethyst replied.

“That explains why some of the toys I had smelled like smoke when I was younger.” Steven said briefly before looking back at Amethyst. His tears began to streak down more frequently. “Amethyst? You… okay?”

“Oh… yeah. I’m good.” Amethyst replied as she turned to look at Steven, her eyes were oddly red. Even though gems didn’t have blood vessels to cause any redness, Steven knew that she had been crying a lot. “Totally fine with… things…”

“Ah, yeah… sure.” Steven responded as he wrapped his arms around Amethyst, who had begun to break down. “Amethyst. Talk to me. Please.”

“I’m… afraid.” Amethyst croaked, as she latched her arms around Steven.

“Of?” Steven asked.

“This. All of this. It’s happened before.” Amethyst began to cry. “First you leave. Then Pearl probably goes off and starts a rockband or something stupid. And Garnet fades away and becomes a wandering monk or something. And I’m… going to be alone for another few centuries. I don’t want to be left behind. Not again.”

“You don’t want me to leave?” Steven asked as he hugged tighter.

“No doi!” Amethyst exclaimed as she began to sob. “but I can’t say anything about it or else I’ll just look selfish. But I’m not, Steven! You… you know that, right? I just… don’t want to be left behind again. I… promised Rose…”

“It’s okay, Amethyst.” Steven said as he held Amethyst to calm her down. “I… wanted to ask you something. Well, myself and Connie wanted to ask you something.”

“W-what?” Amethyst asked, trying to calm down and breathe.

“Well… It’s just a thought, but…” Steven stopped himself, wondering if he should wait for Connie, who had gone home to grab her bags and luggage. But as soon as he stopped speaking, he heard Connie come in.

“Steven? Amethyst… Did you ask her yet?” Connie asked as she climbed on the bed and sat on the other side of Amethyst.

“I wasn’t sure if I should yet or if I should wait for you.” Steven replied.

“Ask me what?” Amethyst asked, wiping away the tears. “What’s up?”

“Well… Steven and I had been talking about… well, we want to ask…” Connie trailed off from time to time, looking over at Steven for a little help.

“Amethyst. We were wondering… if you wanted to go with us?” Steven asked, deciding on being blunt than being creative.

“W-wait. what?” Amethyst sniffled, looking at both Steven and Connie with confusion.

“Well, neither us, nor Patty and Danny, knew about how they were going to Homeworld and not staying here. It kind of came out of nowhere.” Connie explained.

“And we just… It would seem like we would be leaving you behind.” Steven added. “I had a feeling something like that would happen after Garnet mentioned something about you missing us a lot if we left during therapy… dang it, Garnet.”

“Well… I tried to keep it under wraps, but yeah. I would miss you two a lot. It had been ages since I had actual best friends like you two.” Amethyst spoke, her voice being calmer. “I like Pearl and Garnet, but… sometimes, they’re like work friends. Or they just seem like it. And no matter how much I try to connect to them, they just seem…”

“Like strangers?” Connie attempted to finish Amethyst’s sentence.

“Well, I was going to say ‘alien’, but it felt a little too on the nose.” Amethyst shrugged as she sighed. “I appreciate the gesture, but… This trip is for both of you. I would only be getting in the way.”

“Amethyst, you would be getting in the way if you DIDN’T come with us.” Connie responded.

“You would be on our minds the entire time.” Steven added. “You’re our best friend too, Amethyst. We love you. And we don’t want to abandon you. We don’t want you to feel left behind.”

“But would there even be room for me?” Amethyst asked. “Like, physically? Lion is going with you, isn’t he?”

“Well… yeah. But the modification bismuth made to the van was really crazy.” Steven replied, going back to thinking about the van.

“She did something to the inside of the van that… I mean… Biscuit, help a Strawberry out here?” Connie spoke, having a hard time trying to find the best way to describe it.

“Think about the ruby ships. And then think about the back of that van behaving kind of like one of those things.” Steven tried to explain. “Let’s just say there’s enough room for you to have an entire backseat bench to sprawl out on, and a folded-out futon in the back.”

“Wait, she was able to pull off the futon idea?” Amethyst asked, looking stunned.

“Yeah. full sized. I dunno how, but it’s more than big enough to have you come along.” Steven answered.

“But she was able to pull off my futon idea?” Amethyst asked again with more emphasis on how it was her idea. Steven and Connie nodded, which only made her excited. “Man, if you’re asking, then I’ll go with. As long as I wouldn’t be cramping your style. And if everyone is cool with it.”

“We’re cool with it, Amethyst.” Steven said, wrapping his arm around Amethyst.

“And you definitely wouldn’t be cramping our style.” Connie added, wrapping an arm around her as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The going away dinner was less of a small dinner with a few friends, and more of a multi-family gathering outside of the Bouillabaisse bistro. The tourism season had wind down enough to have a private dinner outside with no patrons other than the locals, who were mostly already there. The Pizza’s, the Fryman’s, Vidalia and her family, including Sour Cream, who swung by to see Steven off. Out of all of the cool kids, Steven had connected to him the most, almost as though he was an older half-brother. Onion was there as well, and much to the passively worried look on Priyanka’s face when she see’s him, he was still the same height. Lars was able to make it as well, along with the off-colors, with a small floating pallet of Ube rolls. It had seemed that the 3D food printer wasn’t completely repaired. Normal blame would have been pinned on Peridot, but since the rolls were so good, no one complained. Sadie and Shep, sadly, couldn’t have made it, since they were already in Empire City. Daniel and Patricia, being true to their word, had showed up as well. Amethyst wanted to, but she couldn’t have been mad at something they had no control over, and it gave them time to chat about leaving with Steven and Connie. Former mayor Dewey was there to award Steven a long overdue metal for all he had done for beach city. But since he was just a former mayor, he had a Funland arcade token turned into a small pendant. Mr. Smiley wasn’t too thrilled about it, but since it was Steven, he looked the other way.

The human inhabitants weren’t the only ones there to wish him and Connie well either. The Diamonds had asked their Pearls to bring communicators with them so they could say goodbye in one capacity or another. It was odd at first with a floating communicator hovering about with a holographic Diamond image being carried around. But by the end, Yellow Diamond and Priyanka talked about human and xenobiology among themselves. White Diamond was somewhat fascinated with how both William Dewey and Nanefua Pizza ran Beach City while dealing with gem monsters. Blue Diamond and Garnet had also talked among themselves, even unfusing temporarily so that she could talk to Sapphire, and apologize for all that had happened in the past. And not to be forgotten, Jasper, Bismuth, Peridot, Lapis, Freckles, and Bob had shown up with coffee no one was sure who ordered it. The Lapis’s drew Connie away for a moment to chat with in private, while Peridot, Amethyst, and Steven talked as well.

Nearing the end, the sun was setting. They all had wished that they would talk a little more. Laugh a little while longer. Reminisce but for another moment. The breadsticks were gone, and so was the time. And before anyone knew it, the Maheswaran’s, the Crystal Gems, Connie, Greg, and Steven were standing outside of the house. The back door of the van opened as Garnet, Jasper, and Pearl packed up the van while Greg, and Steven talked.

“Are you sure about this, Dad?” Steven asked. “You’ve had that van for ages. And you probably put a lot of money in having it remade.”

“Actually, it didn’t cost nothing.” Greg replied. “It was a project a few of us kind of came together on. Plus, I don’t really use it for much anymore now that I’m retired from the music scene. At most, I would be doing music lessons at peoples houses, or just have the lessons done here. I wouldn’t need the van for that.”

“But… I mean… have you seen it? The inside?” Steven asked, not sure why Greg would part with the van so easily.

“Of course, I have. I even spent a few nights sleeping on the futon to make sure it was all comfy. Amethyst didn’t like that I won the coin toss though. but she ended up doing the most testing on it.” Greg replied. “Steven, if it makes you feel any better, how about a trade?”

“A trade?” Steven asked. “For the Dandai?”

“Yeah. I mean… I’ll take good care of it. Only drive it for groceries once a week. Plus, I know that you’re going to make good use of those subwoofers.” Greg responded. “If I held onto the van, it would have just been gathering dust out behind the car wash. Steven, I want you to have it. Please?”

“Well… okay.” Steven said, finding reason in what Greg was talking about. They both pulled out the respective keys to the other vehicle, leaving Steven slightly confused. “Wait, the van doesn’t need keys. What’s this for?”

“Well, from what Pearl and Peridot told me, The van runs on biometrics. All anyone has to do is hold onto the steering wheel while it’s in scanning mode, a few seconds later, and it just remembers who you are and turns on at a little push of a button.” Greg replied, sounding more and more impressed with how well the van turned out. “That key basically puts it in scanning mode. It also opens up the glove compartment. I left something for you and Connie in there. Open it when you get past city limits.”

“It… it isn’t something weird, is it?” Steven asked, trying not to cringe too much.

“Oh, nope. nothing weird. It was just something I made a while ago. Hopefully it will play CD’s.” Greg replied, reassuring Steven that it wasn’t anything weird. But the last thing Greg said caught his attention.

“Wait. ‘CD’s’? That… you’re giving us the-” Steven looked slightly shocked as to what was inside the glove box.

“Not until you leave city limits, okay?” Greg interrupted Steven.

“Okay.” Steven agreed as he hugged his dad. “I’ll call when we get to Scranton. I love you, dad.”

“I love you too, Steven.” Greg said, hugging Steven tightly. ‘Be safe.”

“You too, dad.” Steven replied as he stopped hugging him. His attention turned to the Maheswaran’s, who were hugging Connie tightly.

“Be safe, sweetie.” Priyanka said as she kissed her daughter’s forehead. “We love you.”

“I love you both. And I will mom. We both will.” Connie replied as she looked at Steven. Maheswaran's attention turned to him as well.

“Steven.” Priyanka spoke as Steven walked over to the two of them. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as much as she hugged Connie. “Please be safe. Both of you.”

“We will.”

“Call both of us when you make it to Scranton.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Check tire gages when you can.”

“They don’t need air.”

“Online appointments once a week.”

“Already have them marked on my calendar.”

“try to keep Amethyst out of trouble.”

“I don’t think she’ll be looking for trouble. Just maybe some rest and relaxation.”

“I know… just wanted to keep talking to you both for a while longer.” Priyanka finished her back and forth questioning with a big hug. “Please be safe, Steven… dear.”

“I… I know.” Steven said, understanding why she was asking so many questions while hugging back and letting go. “And I will.”

“Steven?” Doug spoke, causing Steven to turn and look and him and his outstretched hand. “Take care of her. And yourself.”

Steven reached out and shook his hand tightly. It meant a lot to him to do that.

“Yes, sir. I will.” Steven said, smiling confidently. And finally, both his and Connies attention turned to the Crystal gems, saying goodbye to Amethyst.

“Keep them safe Amethyst.” Garnet spoke as well as hugging Amethyst with Pearl.

“As well as yourself. We’ll miss you, Amethyst.” Pearl added kindly as she gently ran her fingers through Amethysts hair, brushing aside her bangs to reveal two watery eyes.

“What are you talking about ‘staying safe’? I don’t want you to loose your character development, Amethyst!” Peridot said as she squeezed Amethyst tightly. “I’m… sorry. I’m… it’s sudden.”

“It’ll be okay, you dork.” Amethyst said as she hugged her back. “I’ll miss you as well. but I’m also going to be safe as well.”

“Please do, Amethyst.” Jasper said, as she tried to keep her voice steady despite her shaking hands. “And… thank you for being patient with me. I know I wasn’t too easy to teach things about life on earth and-”

“Hey. It’s okay. I’m glad I did. Just promise you’ll protect Beach City while I’m gone.” Amethyst smiled. “Or at least try to get along. Both of you.”

“Things are cool between us, Amethyst.” Lapis said as she hugged her as well. “Going to miss my number one customer of day old danishes.”

“And I’m going to miss my number one favorite employee of that place” Amethyst said, hugging back. “Just… don’t tell Bob and Freckles about that, okay?”

“Oh I’m rubbing it in both of their faces the first moment I get a chance to.” Lapis chuckled.

All eyes fell on Steven and Connie, who walked up to them. Tears began to flow.

“Steven.” Pearl spoke as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m… sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s okay now.” Steven responded, hugging Pearl tightly. “Things are going to be okay now.”

“Write me when you can. Not E-mail. Lost my phone, and written letters just… feel better.” Pearl requested as well as giving one last big hug.

“I’ll send a post card when I can.” Steven said as he let go. He looked over at Garnet now, who had gotten rid of her shades, showing all three eyes.

“I… don’t see anything.” Garnet spoke as she knelt down. “Not like I could see anything for you for a while. You’ve broken free. Make your own choices, and I’ll always be proud of you, Steven.”

“I’ll do what I can to make the best choices, whatever those will be.” Steven replied with a hug.

“But, just… maybe avoid the sushi, okay?” Garnet whispered. “Vacations in hospitals are no fun for anyone.”

“I’ll remember and do that.” Steven said, understanding that what she said was more like common knowledge than foresight. “I love you both.”

“We love you to, Steven.” Garnet said, knowing he was also talking to Ruby and Sapphire. After hugging Garnet, he looks over towards Obsidian and Spinel, who were standing awkwardly in between Garnet and Jasper.

“Hey you two.” Steven spoke.

“Yeah… so… Steven…Connie…” Obsidian spoke, taking a few steps forward. “Listen, what I was trying to say earlier… I’m going to miss you, man. Both of you. And… kind of wish we hung out more.”

“We know, Obsidian.” Connie said as both she and Steven gave Obsidian a big hug. “I’m glad that I met you.”

“You know, not to be awkward, but… actually. Not going to make it weird.” Obsidian spoke, holding off on any usual weirdness. “I love you both. Be safe.”

“We will.” Steven replied as they let go.

“Yeah… also…Connie. Again. I’m… yeah.” Spinel spoke next. “Are… are we… okay?”

Steven and Connie spent zero time giving Spinel one last big hug, almost causing Spinel to squeak.

“We’re okay, Spinel.” Connie said as she hugged tightly. “And… I forgive you.”

The moment after Connie said that, Spinel ended up wrapping her long arms around the two of them tighly.

“You’re both my best friends. You know that, right?” Spinel mumbled between the two of their shoulders.

“Yeah…” Connie gasped slightly.

“But we’re not your only friends though. You’re not alone anymore. And you will never be alone.” Steven said reassuringly, gesturing towards the other gems. Spinel let go of the two of them to look around. “Guys… please watch out for her, okay? She baby.”

“I’m baby, uwu?” Spinel asked, her face glowing brightly.

“Yeah… you baby.” Connie sighed. “You’re definitely baby.”

After getting one more hug from Spinel, Steven and Connie’s attention had turned to Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, and Jasper. The for gems, who at some point in Steven’s life had gone from trying to kill him, to being some of his closest friends.

“Guys… I-” Steven was cut off before he could say anything more by the 4 of them hugging Steven tightly all at once.

“If we had just done this sooner… things would have been different.” Jasper spoke with a shaky voice.

“It’s okay though… at least you’re hugging it out now.” Steven said, trying to hug them all. “Please… keep Beach City safe. Along with Obsidian. I’m proud of how far you’ve all come. I’m going to miss you all.”

“We’ll miss you too, Steven.” Lapis said, her voice was stiff, but tears rained down from her eyes uncontrollably. “Both of you. Take care, Steven.”

“And… Steven. I left something for Amethyst.” Peridot spoke as all 4 of them shuffled away. “It’s in case the three of you get into any trouble or something. Kind of a prototype orbit-to-ground warp pad launcher. Just make sure you stay clear from the impact zone, okay?”

“I’ll… make sure we won’t need to use it.” Steven responded as Peridot latched onto him tightly.

“And Steven… we’ll always be your family.” Garnet spoke to him with a soft smile and red eyes.

Steven gave one last big hug, and looked at everyone. It was time.

The sun was setting over the hills of Beach City. Unlike how they sat black over the coalmines in ‘The Spirit Morph Saga’ books, the sky was a deep shade of pink. The van was loaded, with Lion curled up next to their bags comfortably in the back seat after getting his farewell pats-and-scratches. Looking into the van, it’s clearly relevant that the van was indeed bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. And after a final round of hugs and ‘I love you’, Steven, Connie, and Amethyst hopped into the van, and hummed away as they all waved at them. A few people in town stood on the sidewalk and waved as well. One person in particular had fired off fireworks from the beach while they drove by. Onion waved a sparkler in the sky, while wearing Steven’s cheeseburger backpack filled with most of his old toys. MC Bear-Bear was tucked in with Lion. They all waved at Steven and Connie as they drove up into the hills, and along the coast going north.

The entire time they drove, Steven and Connie were wiping away their tears. Steven took a few glances back at Beach City before it vanished from view. All that was left before them was the ocean to their right, and a setting sun to their left. At some point, Connie looked at the glove compartment, trying to figure out how to open it in hopes there would be some tissues.

“Um… Steven… how do you open this?” Connie asked.

“Oh. Hold on.” Steven spoke as he pulled out the set of keys his dad gave him. “Those should open it. Wait, are we out of Beach City limits?”

“We passed that right… about… now!” Amethyst said as she looked out the passenger side of the window at a sign that read ‘you’re now leaving Beach City/Little Homeworld. You didn’t see anything!’. “Heheh. Can’t believe they approved of that idea.”

“Ah, okay. Go on ahead and open it up, Connie.” Steven said, handing her the key. With an audible click, the glove compartment opened to reveal a box of tissue paper, as well as another, more intricate looking box. As Connie opened it up, her eyes widened.

“Steven… It’s…” Connie tried to speak as Amethyst peared over her shoulder.

“Oh Glob, man! I cant believe he gave it to you!” Amethyst spoke as she reached into the box and pulled out a blank CD case.

“The legendary mix CD case.” Connie whispered. “Over a thousand songs stemming from multiple artist and genres. I can’t believe he gave us this… treasure trove.”

“Yeah. He made it for mom when they were dating.” Steven said. “As well as some that he made after I was born.”

“And apparently one, he made recently.” Amethyst said, peaking Steven’s curiosity. Connie turned to look at one of the cases Amethyst had pulled out. It might not of had a track listing on it, but it did have the words ‘Steven and Connie’s AND Amethyst’s ultimate road trip tunes.’

“Ultimate, huh?” Steven asked. “Well… how do we play it?”

“Oh, you’re going to love this.” Amethyst said with a broad grin. “Connie, just place the CD facing up above the center console, and just drop it.”

“Just drop it?” Connie asked.

“Trust me.” Amethyst spoke.

Connie opened up the case, pulled out the disk, and gently dropped the CD where Amethyst told her to. All of the sudden, the disk stopped in mid air, and had begun to spin, playing a song by ‘the Philosophy Majors’.

“This… is new?” Connie asked, listening to the sound playing, and being dragged back to the evening on the beach where she and Steven fused. “Wait, is this from their album ‘Objects in the Mirror’?”

“Well… I kind of helped make the playlist.” Steven said, smiling at Connie.

“You made… a mix tape?” Connie said as she looked over at Steven. “I love you, Biscuit.”

“I love you too, Strawberry.” Steven replied, looking over at Connie briefly as the light from the sunset shined on her.

“Crank it up!” Amethyst cheered and Lion roared as they blared the song ‘Shine’ through the speakers. Through the window, the air, the stars, through the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Steven, Connie, and Amethyst, the road they're on doesn't end in this story.
> 
> On July 20th of 2018, i heard about Diamond Days, and how it would change everything in the series. back then, i though that the show would go on for another 4 seasons. 2018 wasn't so bad to me. It was when i seriously started writing again. Fanfics about a show that meant alot to me. If i knew then what i know now about the show, would i still be invested in it? I might. Would i even had bothered writing fanfics about the show that kind of kept me from going over the deep end? I probably would have. The show was awesome. And i doubt there will ever be a show like this in my lifetime. I guess i wrote this arc, not out of wanting to continue the AU, but to rebel against how the original story had ended. The thought of a series being as good as Steven Universe being cut short and capped with something that turned the series on it's head for all of the wrong reasons, it left a bad taste in my mouth. But it shouldn't have meant that my writing should have suffered for it. in fact, it drove me to make it better. This arc though, it might no have been the greatest story ever compiled, but it was something i poured my heart into.
> 
> There might be a future for this AU. The canon, the series, that's dead. Dead, buried in 50 feet of concrete beneath a CN kiosk where they sell the merchandise from a show that would live on, not by the show itself, but by the amazing fanfics and fan-art that came from it. The future of the AU, on the other hand, is kind of blurry. I might return with another arc next year, pending if i'm alive by then. odds are, i will be. The future is strange.
> 
> For now, i want to thank everyone. yep, everyone. Ramen, Cooky, Kenji, Doodlefox, Duke, Pookie-Pie (Baby), H, Eggy, Bird, Jordan, every person who still follows me on tumblr, and every person who reads my work here.

**Author's Note:**

> And now you see why i didn't say anything about major character deaths in the last story. A good start, i think. But the day is just getting Started for Steven.


End file.
